


Wanderlust

by diabloizm



Series: Vagary | AOTverse [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Fights, Idiots in Love, Love, Major Original Character(s), Original Character Death(s), Original Character-centric, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 02:20:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17051222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diabloizm/pseuds/diabloizm
Summary: Everyone knows about the Special Operations Squad and their leader, Humanity's Strongest Soldier, but only a select few know about the Undercover Operations Squad, and their own leader: Humanity's Tenacious Soldier, Scarlett Margaux. The very existence of this squad and their leader is only a rumor to all and is always shot down when questioned.The Margaux Squad are very satisfied in being a successful squad under the radar for almost six years. They were just happy that life wasn't such a hell after the Fall of Wall Maria, even with the Titans roaming outside the safety of the walls. There was a sense of peace within the walls, and the Undercover Squad could proudly, but humbly think part of that peace was because of them. They knew their secrecy wouldn't be forever, so when a series of events makes the Undercover Operations to come out of hiding, they accept it with open arms.With two strong and successful squads working for the same thing, you would think they would get along but it is much easier said than done. Would humanity be able to be saved by these two strong-willed squads and leaders? Or would their own personal demons be the end of them?





	1. Chapter 1

The sun barely shone over the horizon as the time was barely seven in the afternoon. Five figures sat on the roof of their home, their hideout really, calmly watching the sunset. Though their exteriors were calm, inside they were itching to do something. Something "fun" is what they called it. Fun in their definition was to be outside of the walls. Traveling on the lands that used to belong to the humans. Killing every and any Titan they spotted. Watching and observing in every scene of breathtaking scenery. Anything outside of the walls were fun for them, and it had been a while since they've gone out there, due to a recent order to wait until further notice.

One figure stood just as the round orb known as the sun descended below the horizon, their red colored locks flowing in the gentle breeze. The four figures around them followed suit, continuing to watch the sun.

" _Scarlett_ ," spoke a quiet, calm voice, while turning slightly to the right, raising a hand lazily to point at a hawk flying towards them.

Scarlett, the red haired female, looked over and saw the hawk, an immediate grin forming on her face.

"It's time," Scarlett spoke calmly, but the people behind her could hear the hint of excitement behind her calm voice. They were excited as well.

The five jumped down the roof, landing perfectly on their feet, dusting themselves off a bit, before heading in their home. They grabbed a few things they needed, and as soon as they all stepped out of their home, they all sprinted in one direction. The hawk spotted them and followed a few feet behind them, but high above them in the air.

 _It was finally time for a mission_. That's what they were all thinking, but that was not the case. They were being called for another reason, and the Commander behind that reason wasn't sure if the five would accept the task at hand.

 

* * *

 

It was now eight o'clock at night, and Erwin was in a small clearing in the woods a good distance away from the Survey Corps HQ. He was not alone, as there were five other figures in front of him, the leader smack dab in the middle. He waited anxiously for the answer to what he just requested, but stayed still with his eyes only slightly narrowing at the five waiting.

"So... you called us out here not to give us a mission, but to tell us it's probably best to reveal ourselves now? Is there something going on that's making you suggest such a thing?" Scarlett asked calmly, though the four figures behind her could sense just a hint of annoyance. She gently stroked the feathers of the hawk resting on her cloaked shoulder, the hawk gently rubbing his head against her head. She waited a bit, then looked at Erwin, her eyes glaring slightly, "Well?"

Erwin quietly gulped, not being used to being the attention to of one of Scarlett's oh so famous deadly glares. He rubbed his hands together a bit, then cleared his throat, and put his hands behind his back, his left hand clasping around his right hand's wrist. Even though Scarlett and her squad were technically below him in power, Erwin never thought that. They were his equals, and if anything power and superiority seeped off the skin of the five in front of him. Plus it didn't help that these five were like the kids he never had. He cared for them so much, and they cared so much for him, they unknowingly turned into a small unofficial family, with Keith being like an uncle to the five as well. Erwin sighed a bit, but stood tall, "In all honestly there's only one reason why I want you reveal yourselves. And no, it is not being I don't trust you all, or because the King and the military police are blackmailing me or anything," Erwin looked at Scarlett right in the eyes, her eyes softening, listening intently, "Our soldiers are losing hope. Yes, there hasn't been a Titan attack nor an expedition that cost the lives of soldiers. They're just... losing hope. They don't see a reason to fight anymore. Plus all the cadets in training are all looking to join the Garrison or the Military Police, if they're in the top ten, with little to none to the Survey Corps. I want you guys to reveal yourself, tonight if possible, in front of all our soldiers, plus the cadets in training, to give them all a sense of hope again. For the rumor to be true about the "Aliferous Squad" will bring light into their burdened minds. It will inspire them to be at their best again, and will inspire some of the cadets to join the Corps. So if you could... I'm not ordering you, but I'm asking, if you could reveal yourselves tonight," Erwin finished but saw a sparkle in Scarlett's eye, "And no Scarlett I am not kneeling down to you to beg." A light chuckle left his lips as a small pout formed on the female's lips.

"How are you getting all the cadets to be there, if we reveal ourselves?" Asked the figure to the left of Scarlett, in a tone down of his usual loud voice, while pulling his black hair into a low ponytail. _Wolfram_ fixed his hood again, eyes focusing on the Commander in front of him.

"I had discussed your possible reveal with Keith beforehand, and he will gather them all up when I give him a signal," Erwin answered slightly tensing up again.

"How do you know we're even still an inspiration to those soldiers and cadets? How do you know they don't even believe in us anymore?" Asked the figure to the right of Scarlett, crossing his arms in front of his chest. _Arnoldo_ eyed the Commander in front, making Erwin fix his posture again. _Damn if looks could kill, I'd be dead by now... Those three eye's could be used as a weapon alone,_ thought the Commander.

"You still hear them whisper about it. To them it's like an urban legend that gets told down. Now imagine if it was to be true?" Erwin answered then questioned, looking directly at the blonde haired figure to the side of Arnoldo.

Being the center of the Commander's attention made _Mirja_ slightly shuffle on her feet. She looked up at the trees a bit before looking at Erwin right in the eyes, giving a soft smile, "We would definitely give them hope," Erwin smiled nodding to agree but Mirja wasn't finished, "But they could also hate us from the fact we were hidden for so long."

Erwin slightly faltered at the usually positive girl that spoke. Then he looked at the silent member to the side of Wolfram, speaking gently, " _Ken_? What do you think?" 

The masked squad member, looked at Erwin, his own eyes slightly hiding behind a curtain of his hair, and took a deep breath. The other four looked at him as well, awaiting a reply.

"I think we should do it. Even though there is a possibility that all of them or some of them could hate us, I just know for certain that they will feel relieved when they see us. We would most definitely give them hope," Ken spoke slowly, and in a barely slightly above audible volume. It was his usual tone of voice that his squad and Erwin were used to. Their ears have just somehow accustomed themselves over the years to always detect Ken's natural quiet voice. He moved some hair away from his eyes for a bit and continued, "If I was to be in their shoes, I would appreciate a unknown group of people coming forward to give light to our dark hearts. It would give me a sense of purpose again."

There was a few seconds of silence to assure Ken had finished speaking. After everyone was sure, Erwin smiled softly, and gently put his hand on top of said member's head, playfully ruffling his hair. Ken's eyes shot forward to Erwin, a slight embarrassed blush hiding beneath his face mask. Ken looked back down, but smiled, and everyone could see the smile in his eyes.

Scarlett and Arnoldo let out a relaxed sigh, while Wolfram stretched a bit chuckling to himself. Mirja grinned at their Commander while giving him a thumbs up. 

"Well..." All heads turned to leader in the middle of them, "If Ken thinks it's a good idea, then we think it's a good idea too," Scarlett smiled at the Commander, "Right guys?" Before she had even finished her question, the other three were already nodding. "Well it's decided. We shall reveal ourselves," Scarlett smirked a bit looking at her Commander, "But on one condition."

"And what would that be?" Erwin asked raising an eyebrow curiously.

"You let us have a flashy entrance," Scarlett grinned, shifting her weight to one foot, hand on her hip.

Erwin couldn't help but roll his eyes, but chuckled nonetheless, "Deal. I'll be making a speech about your whole reveal ok? You can do your 'flashy entrance' after I announce you. Sound good?"

"Deal," Scarlett extended her hand with a content smile on her face.

The Commander gave all of them a smile, then shook Scarlett's hand gratefully.

"I'll call the gathering now. Your announcement should be in an hour or less," Erwin explained.

"Aww are you gonna praise us that much Erwin?" Wolfram wrapped an arm around his commander's shoulders with a big grin on his face.

Arnoldo roughly but easily pulled Wolfram away from the Commander making the black haired male to grunt in surprise, "Easy now. He has to leave to gather everyone up remember?"

The blond Commander smiled, "As I was saying, you guys can hide in the shadows or up in the buildings until I call you forward. Alright?"

"Yes sir!" They all gave a half heartily military salute, not out of disrespect but out of being so friendly with said Commander. The Commander smiled and nodded at them, making them drop their arms to their sides. He stared at the five of them making small talk, he presumed about their 'flashy entrance', but he couldn't help and just be happy and praise them for who they were. Not only were they fine elite soldiers, but to him, they were like family. He knew that if others saw them give him that half heartily salute, others would be appalled at such disrespect, but he knew otherwise. He knew he had their utmost respect, but he was the one that told them they didn't have to be so formal around him. And that's exactly what they did. They treated him like an equal but teased him just how they teased each other. Believe it or not, it was the same with Keith. This squad... no these kids (yes they were all in their 20's but to Erwin and Keith they were like kids) were like their family. They had seen them grow. They had seen them go through thick and thin. They have seen them become to the elite squad they were now, and they were honored to have been able to see all of that.

"Sir?" Mirja asked, her delicate hand placing itself on his cheek, her eyes looking at him with concern, "Are you ok? You spaced out for a bit."

Erwin snapped out of his thoughts, making Mirja retract her hand calmly, "Ah yes. Sorry I was just thinking. I'll be taking my leave now. Be ready in an hour. The gathering will be held where the cadets decide which branch they want to join. Understood?"

The five nodded and he turned to make his leave until a hand rested at his shoulder. He turned his head to see Scarlett there, with a neutral expression on her face.

"Erwin? You don't have to be so tense. We'll be fine ok? Even if they turned out to hate us, you know we wouldn't change for the world, and you out of all people should know that. So don't worry, and go be that loud mouthed good leader you are," Scarlett finished by patting his back semi-hard making him release tension in his shoulders he didn't even know he was having.

Erwin flicked her forehead for the loud mouthed comment, but nevertheless pulled her into a small hug which the latter returned. When he pulled away, Scarlett gave him a grin then shooed him off telling him they'd be waiting for his signal.

Erwin walked out of the woods leaving that squad back to talk amongst themselves. As soon as he was back at HQ, he called a random soldier forward, and gave him a scrolled up paper, telling him to deliver it to Shadis. The soldier saluted him and went on his way. Erwin forced himself to relax again, letting out a deep breath. Scarlett was right. He was tense. He was worried, but why? Even if the soldiers and cadets rejected the hidden squad, he knew the squad would not change. Only one thing would change and that would be that they would no longer be hidden, and he knew they could deal with that. Then what was it?

Was it the fact of the possibility that they could be not only be rejected but hated by everyone? Erwin knew the group stuck to themselves, but he also knew that they enjoyed meeting others and the company of others. Could he live with himself if the soldiers turned out to hate them?

Yes. He raised his head answering his own question. Yes he could live with himself because he would be there for them in anything bad was to happen. He was always there for them and that wouldn't change. Plus, he knew deep down in his negative thoughts that the soldiers and cadets would accept them. They needed hope, and this squad was it. This was it. He was going to reveal them now. It was now or never.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reveal of the Margaux Squad.

Everyone was in the area where the training cadets would chose which military branch to go into. The Survey Corps soldiers talked amongst themselves, while the cadets stayed to themselves as well. Everyone was confused. Why were they all called here? Why was Commander Smith standing in the middle stage, eyes looking up at the night sky occasionally. Everyone in the Survey Corps where there, except of coarse the Chief (who knew Erwin's plans for the night), and the Special Operations Squad, Levi's Squad. Even though Erwin wanted them to be there during the announcement, he had sent them to scout for two nights around the walls to make sure everything was alright. He would just have to explain to them later when they got back because this couldn't wait. 

Erwin looked at Keith, and Keith nodded letting the Commander know that everyone was there and accounted for. Erwin nodded and cleared his throat. Keith and the others such as Mike and Hanji stood a few feet behind Erwin, curious as to what Erwin was going to say. Not even they knew, except Keith of coarse. They wanted to whisper amongst themselves just like the cadets and other soldiers were. They were confused.

"Good afternoon," Erwin spoke loudly, making the last few people talking to quiet down, "I'm sorry to have called all of you suddenly this late, but there's something Shadis and I need to get off our chest," he clasped his hands behind his back, chin high, voice never losing a tone in volume, "But first... You all have heard the rumor of a secret squad that is rumored to work with the Corps, am I correct?" People replied yes, or nodded their heads so Erwin continued, "I called you all here tonight to announce that that rumor, that urban legend, is in fact true."

As soon as the last word left his lips, the crowd in front of him gasped, mouths ajar, eyes wide. The crowd started whispering amongst themselves again. _True? How was it true? That was just a myth! Wasn't it? What was going on?_

"Quiet!" Keith's voice boomed over everyone, immediately making everyone shut up, and look forward to the Commander on the stage.

Erwin nodded his head slightly as a thanks to Keith and continued, "I know it's hard to believe, but it is true. This squad is real, and have been fighting for us this whole time. They may have been in the shadows, but they were always working with us... For us. The only ones who know about this squad is our Chief, Keith Shadis, and I, Erwin Smith. No one else knew until now. Their records are so hidden and secure, that truthfully speaking, us three see the records maybe only twice a year."

A cadet raised their hand, green eyes filled with curiosity.

"Cadet Jaeger, did Commander Smith allow questions of any sort?" Keith snarled, making the five figures hiding on the top of a nearby building quietly snicker.

The cadet slowly started lowering his hand until Erwin spoke, "It's alright. Questions are expected. Ask away."

"Ok so this squad was hidden, but why? Don't you think it would've been better for them to be in the open all this time? I mean I just heard that myth a few days ago, but I couldn't believe it in. To me it was just some tale that people told to pass time," Jaeger spoke in a semi-loud voice, crossing his arms, "Why hide such a squad if they even are real? How do we know you're not just saying they're real and ordered a few soldiers of yours to act like the hidden squad hm?"

This kid had guts, that's for sure. One of the figures hiding on top of the building smirked a bit. It reminded them of themselves when they were a cadet. God, Keith punished the hell out of them for their mouth.

"Cadet Jaeger, watch yourself," growled Keith.

"No, it's alright Shadis. I expected this," Erwin sighed a bit and continued, "Them being hidden was a decision not only made by me, but by the leader of that squad as well. It is a long story, that we don't have time for right now. Besides, I'm sure the leader would prefer to tell you their story their-self. They are a very hidden and secluded group, so you won't be getting much out of them, but... I do want you to know that every rumor you have heard about them is true. They do missions that none of you, nor the Special Operation Squad would do. They are the 'heroes of the night'. They are one squad that have never given up, nor do they ever plan to give up. They have given Shadis and I hope when we started to give up. They are... just a wonderful group of people. I decided it was time to reveal them now because I can see the burdened minds of my soldiers. I can also see the doubt in the cadets minds. I'm bringing them out from the dark to hopefully give you all some light."

A soldier raised their hand and spoke when Erwin nodded, "Like the kid said... how are we going to know you're not just ordering some other soldiers to do this? How will be know this is legit?"

"Trust me, once most of you see who it is, you'll believe me. This squad is quite special, and you will see why," Erwin stepped back, standing right beside Shadis, "I present to you, the Undercover Operations Squad!"

His voice boomed, making the soldiers and cadets squirm in their spot a bit. Their eyes looking around, waiting anxiously for the supposedly myth squad. Hanji looked around a bit, then looked right at Erwin, confused but excited. _It was true?! It was really true_! Now she really wanted to meet this secret group. Erwin could sense the scientist looking at him, and he gave her a small nod, making Hanji grin excitedly.

After a few moments of silence, the zip noises of 3D maneuvering gear is heard throughout the air. Five cloaked figures performed a few tricks in the air, leaving the others in awe, right before they landed in sync right where Commander Smith was standing before. One figure took a few steps forward, the leader they assumed, with the other four right behind them. With it being dark out, and only using some torches for light, everyone was left with a feeling of eeriness. You couldn't see their faces due to the hoods on top of their heads. _How creepy was that?_ These people were intruders to them. Their long black coats covered their body from their head to their feet. The cloaks flowed a bit with the breeze, people now able to see the 3DM gear under the cloaks. No one dared to say a word, until someone cleared their throat.

And then spoke a strong but beautiful, almost soothing voice, "I apologize we were hidden from you all for all this time, but it was what was best at the time. I hope you are all able to forgive my squad and I."

It was a female. They could at least tell that much from the figure , but when she raised a hand and removed her hood, followed suit by the four other figures, a lot of the soldiers and cadets were left in a confused state of mind.

The Undercover Operations Squad was no longer hidden, and was no longer just a rumor. They were real. They were standing right in front of them. 

They were real... but there was only one problem... _Wasn't that squad, the Aliferous Squad, dead?_

Silenced consumed them all. The only thing heard was the slight breeze and the crackle of the fires on the torches. Again, the soldiers and cadets started to talk amongst themselves. _This couldn't be happening! They heard the story of the Aliferous Squad and they were known to have gone missing, then reported dead! Just what was going on?!_

"Hey! Be quiet!" A loud voice boomed, and everyone shut up, looking to the front, expecting to see Shadis yelling, but in fact it was a black haired male beside the female, "Damn she's not even done talking and you had the nerve to interrupt her."

The red-haired female figure in the middle chuckled a bit, "It's alright. The confusion is totally acceptable, but first let's make ourselves more presentable," her hand raised to her collar and she unbuttoned her cloak. She took the cloak off, folding it neatly, and laid it in behind her. The other four did the same, now revealing their bodies and faces more, "We understand that you are all confused and filled with questions but please, let us introduce ourselves to those who don't know us, or may have forgotten us."

Immediately the five stood tall, chins high, right fist on their heart tightly with the left fist curled behind their back, their legs were together and tall. Such a fine and perfect salute.

"We are the Undercover Operation Squad," the female in the middle spoke dropping her salute followed by the other four, "We are who were used to be known as the Aliferous Squad."

Again, the same green eyed cadet raised their hand and asked before even given permission, "WAIT A SECOND! Weren't you guys suppose to be dead?!" A black haired girl beside this boy nudged him in his stomach making him grunt,  "T-that came out wrong, sorry. My friends and I have heard stories about the Aliferous Squad and we even saw pictures, and it is no doubt you guys... but again, weren't you guys dead?"

"And weren't there originally eight members? Where's the rest of you?" Another cadet who had two tone colored hair asked.

Before Shadis could even scold the two boys, the female spoke up again, "That last question is for another time. Like Erwin said, everything is such a long story," The crowd was filled with gasps when she casually called the Commander by his first name making her furrow her eyebrows in confusion, "What?"

"You called the Commander by his first name," the dark brown haired male beside her said.

"Oh that?" She laughed and shook her head, "I'll just say that we are actually quite close to Erwin and Keith actually. They don't need to know how close but they can at least know that. Let's get introductions started," She stepped back to be in line with the four other members, "Ken start it off."

The light brown haired male all the way to the left of her took steps forward, saluting before he spoke quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear, "My name is Ken Miyamoto. I am twenty-two years old, and I am referred as one of the 'generals' in our squad," said male dropped his salute, finished and stepped back in line.

As soon as he said his full name Keith and Erwin's eyes widened. They didn't tell them they had to reveal their last names. Why were they doing that? When Erwin stepped forward to ask the female, the female had sensed him, and looked back at him with a smile, and shooed him away. Erwin looked at her uncertainly, but slowly nodded when the two tall males beside her looked at him as well and gave the Commander small smiles.

"Mirja, you're next," spoke the female in the middle again.

The short haired blonde female all the way to the right of the female stepped forward, and saluted with a smile, "My name is Mirja Margaux. I am twenty-one years old, and I am also referred as a 'general' in our squad," she dropped her salute and stepped back in line.

"Arnoldo," the female spoke calmly, shifting her weight to one foot, with a hand on her hip.

The tall dark brown haired male to the right next to the female took steps forward and saluted, "My name is Arnoldo Dinapoli. I am twenty-four years old, and I am referred to as the 'major' in our squad," he dropped his salute and stepped back.

"Wolfram," the female spoke again.

The tallest member, the black haired male directly to the left of the female took steps forward and saluted, "My name is Wolfram Lange. I am twenty-five years old and I am referred to as the 'colonel' in our squad," he finished with a small grin, dropping his salute and stepped back.

The red-haired female in the middle nodded and stepped forward, saluting again, "My name is Scarlett Margaux. I am twenty three years old, and I am the squad leader of our squad. My official rank is a Captain as well." 

The crowd gasped. The only Captain they knew was Captain Levi, but there was actually two? Where was Squad Levi anyway?

"We are the Undercover Operations Squad, but our official name is the Margaux Squad," Scarlett spoke, "And please, while we all are ranked higher than all of you officially, don't be so formal with us alright? Just call us by our first names, got it?" She grinned and was answered with ok, yes, or nods, "Now you want to know how we're not dead. In easy words, that was just a cover up. We knew a lot of people wouldn't approve of us doing what we did if we got found out one day, so we decided to officially work in the dark. The death was just something to explain why we were gone. We have never once thought about leaving the Corps or stop doing what we loved. We want to rid the world of Titans just like many of you, but we have never stopped believing in ourselves like you have."

"Once you stop believing in yourself, is when you start doubting what you are doing, and stop trying your best," Mirja spoke kindly, "And we don't want that. We want all of you to be at your best. Everyone needs to be the best they can be, and we are here to help with that."

"Especially you cadets," Wolfram's voice was much louder than the other four, "Even if you're not joining the Corps, we all need you in your best state of mind and physical shape. Can't have anyone lazy or bored in any of the military branches. Or else I'll knock some sense into you," he finished with a chuckle.

"We just want what's best for all of you, and we are saying this to everyone here. From the cadets in training to the squad leaders behind us. The Margaux Squad, or the Aliferous Squad, were always known for inspiring others and giving people hope, so that is why we revealed ourselves now. Anything can be done when you believe in yourself and each other," Arnoldo paused for a bit eyeing everyone in front of him, "Got it?"

"Yes sir!" The cadets and soldiers in front saluted, making the Margaux Squad smirk or smile in triumph.

"At ease soldiers," Scarlett ordered, "As Erwin said, it is late so this shall end now. We'll be around anyway but some things won't be revealed until an appropriate time later," she looked at Erwin and he nodded, "Alright soldiers, time to turn into bed. It is way past your curfew. I promise we'll be around if you want to get to know us more personally, BUT after you all do your usual duties during the day. Now, to bed you all go."

The soldiers and cadets were hesitant not wanting to leave. They wanted to ask more questions. Their hearts sparked with curiosity and hope, so of coarse they wanted to know more.

"She ordered you to go to bed soldiers!" Keith's voice echoed behind the squad making the crowd quickly disperse and leave to their respectful places.

"Gosh Keith still as cruel as ever," Scarlett commented, shaking her head in playful disapproval a hand on her hip still.

Keith rolled his eyes and lightly hit her over her head making the female pout, "Yeah yeah. How have you all been? It's been a while since I've seen you all."

"Well Erwin here was the one who ordered us to stand down until further notice," Wolfram chuckled crossing his arms.

"We've been good. We've been itching for some fun though," Mirja pouted a bit making Keith chuckle quietly, "This is curing our boredom ever so slightly."

"Guys... I believe they want to formally meet us," Ken spoke quietly, eyeing the few people beside Erwin and Keith.

"Ah yes of coarse. Hanji, Mike, please introduce yourselves," Erwin spoke calmly.

"Oh I can't believe it! I always believed those rumors to be true! I have so many questions!" Hanji went to Scarlett and held both her hands with her own, "Ah and what a beauty too! Has you long hair ever caused any problems during training or battle?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Scarlett was a bit taken back, staring at the woman in front of her with glasses. Or were they googles? Scarlett blinked in confusion a bit, turning to look at her squad for help, only getting laughter from Wolfram and a roll of eyes from Arnoldo.

"Oh well where are my manners? My name is Hanji Zoe," grinned the woman and let Scarlett's hands go and then extended a hand towards her, "It's an honor to formally meet you."

Scarlett smiled, "The pleasure is all mine," she shook the woman's hand. Hanji continued and shook the rest of the squad's hands.

"She reminds me of someone we know very well," Ken spoke quietly, looking between Hanji and Mirja, making Hanji grin and Mirja to blush a bit.

"Mike Zacharias," A blond haired male beside Hanji introduced himself extending a hand to Scarlett.

"Nice to meet you," Scarlett gave a small smile, shaking his hand, only to be pulled forward slightly and sniffed by the man, the man letting her hand go and smirked a bit, "Uh...."

The other four members stared in disbelief a bit, until Wolfram bursted out in laughter, "Holy shit did that just happen? Oh my god!" His laughter was loud and as always contagious, making the rest of his squad laugh, and even made Erwin and Keith chuckle, "Aw man Scar, you should've seen your face!"

Scarlett gave him a playful glare, just as Hanji spoke, "He does that all the time, don't worry about it. You don't smell bad or anything."

"That's good to know," Scarlett laughed a bit rubbing her neck then looked at Erwin, "So what now?"

"If you guys agree, I want you to guys to start staying at the Survey Corps HQ again. Your rooms have always been available since your 'disappearance'. You will even have your own office Scarlett," Erwin informed, seeing the female's eye brighten in delight, "Plus that way it's easier when I need to call you for a mission."

"True... well I guess we can move back here. We'll just have to bring all our stuff tomorrow. Would some of your soldiers be willing to help us move our things?" Scarlett asked

"I don't see why not. I'm sure some of the cadets wouldn't mind helping either," Keith spoke crossing his arms.

"While that may be true, they have training to do don't they?" Wolfram asked.

"About that..." Erwin looked at the squad in front of him, "Can you guys help with the cadets training tomorrow? I'm sure they would love to be trained by one of our elite squads."

"That's not a problem. We can do that," Arnoldo nodded, "And since we know they'll be curious, we'll spend some time with them to let them ask some questions but only AFTER their training is done."

"Plus then after their training we can see who are willing to help us move, right?" Mirja asked.

Erwin and Keith nodded, and Erwin opened his mouth to speak, but Scarlett interrupted, "Wait a second... where's your other elite squad? The Special Operations Squad right? Where are they? I wanted to meet them. We've heard tons about them."

"They are currently away. They will be back the day after tomorrow. I'll be explaining this whole situation to them when they arrive," Erwin notified making the squad nod.

"Ah I have so many questions for you guys, but I'm sure you're all tired. Erwin!" Hanji exclaimed looking at the Commander, "Can I chaperone them to their rooms?"

"I'm sure they still remember where their rooms are, don't you guys?" Erwin asked.

"We do, but Hanji can chaperone us," Scarlett chuckled, "But before we go to our rooms, can we head to the cafeteria? We're kinda hungry."

Erwin nodded, "Of coarse. Do as you please but don't stay up too late. You'll need your energy for tomorrow. Arnoldo, I believe you'll make sure they don't stay up too late right?"

Arnoldo chuckled, "Yes sir."

"Sir?" Mirja asked making the Commander look at her, "See we told you we'd be fine."

"That you did," Erwin showed a small smile and ruffled her hair a bit, "Now go eat and right to sleep alright?"

"Rodger dodger!" Mirja saluted but not the ordinary salute. Her hand was at her forehead and dramatically moved it forward with a grin.

Hanji and Mike stared at her then at Erwin in awe. They really were casual with the Commander. If they ever did that, they would have been glared ever so slightly and told to respect him, but with them, Erwin just responded with a smile.

"Hey Keith?" Scarlett asked both hands on her hips.

"Yes _Carl_?" Keith asked her, in a slightly teasing tone.

The red-haired female pouted at the old nickname he had given her when she was a trainee still, "Aw come on you're calling me that in front of Mike and Hanji. Don't embarrass me like that," Scarlett whined but smiled, "Anyway, what time does training for the cadets start tomorrow? Like it did before?" Keith nodded, "Alright cool. Alright Hanji lead us to the cafeteria first. I'm starving."

Hanji grinned and nodded, holding one of Scarlett's hands and basically dragged the red-haired squad leader away, her squad following snickering a bit.

Mike turned to look at Erwin and Keith who both had small smiles on their faces as they watched the squad leave being led by Hanji. Mike couldn't help but smirk just a bit seeing that the Scarlett was not lying when she said they were close to Erwin and Keith, but how close were they exactly?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still kind of a noob here, but thank you to any and all readers! Please do let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Margaux Squad meet the cadets of the 104th training corps.

"Ah I can't help it! Your hair is so pretty!" Hanji squealed in delight playing with Scarlett's curly hair, "It's so cute! It just bounces back into place every time I pull it!" Hanji did it again grinning to herself, "Has the Commander ever tried making you cut it for it being so long?"

Scarlett let the slightly older woman play with her hair, as she tried to eat, trying not to be rude, but damn she just wanted to eat breakfast in peace. Before Scarlett even said anything, Mike spoke up for her.

"Hanji, let the woman breath. Don't you see she's just trying to eat? You know her and her squad have to be at the cadets training later," Mike commented making the woman with glasses stop.

"Ah! I'm sorry Scarlett, I know I can be a handful at times," Hanji apologized rubbing her neck.

"It's alright, I understand. Like Ken said last night, you are similar to our squad mate Mirja," Scarlett smiled then chewed and swallowed, "But to answer your question, no he has not. During training or battle I usually have my hair in two braids or in a high ponytail. It has never gotten in the way or put me in danger." Scarlett continued eating after answering.

Wolfram drank some coffee, and set his cup down, "I tease her about it all the time. I tell her one day it's just gonna get caught in her gear or in a Titan's hand but she won't listen to me~" he finished his sentence while poking Scarlett's cheek, "Isn't that right Scar?"

Scarlett only rolled her eyes and continued eating, making the black haired male laugh.

"So what are you guys going to make the cadets do today?" Mike asked, drinking some coffee of his own.

"Basic training is the first thing. We want to see what they're all capable of. Everything from running laps to push ups to sparring each other," Arnoldo informed, then took a bite of his bread, "Damn I forgot how bad the cafeteria food was..."

"I know! I miss your cooking already Arnoldo," Mirja whined but continued eating, "Maybe you should surprise the cadets tonight with a dinner made by you?" Mirja wiggles her eyebrows trying to convince her elder.

"It depends on how well they do in their training," Arnoldo answered after drinking some coffee.

"I take it Arnoldo is the best cook out of all of you?" Hanji asked and got answered with nods by the other four members, "Aw man! Will we be able to taste your cooking someday too?"

"I'm sure Arnoldo wouldn't mind if you guys came over tonight during dinner to try out his food, right?" Scarlett had now finally finished eating and gently wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Not at all, but like I said, it depends how well they do in their training with us today," Arnoldo stated again finishing his coffee.

Ken had already finished eating, putting his face mask back on again. Hanji and Mike were so focused on the others that they didn't even know Ken had actually removed his mask to eat. They had missed their chance to see his face. Said member stood up slowly holding his tray, "Is anyone else done?"

Scarlett raised her tray as well as as Arnoldo, then they passed their trays to Ken. Ken stacked the trays accordingly then walked away coming back a few moments later empty handed. After another fifteen minutes of small chit chat and eating, Hanji and Mike took their leave wishing the squad luck for the day. 

"We should make our leave now, the cadets should be waking up around now and will be coming in to eat now. We should go warm up while they eat," Ken suggested. It was only now around 6:30 in the morning, so they knew everyone else, other than squad leaders or higher ranked soldiers, would only be waking up now.

"You're right," Scarlett agreed and got, "Let's go guys."

And so they walked out of the cafeteria just as some early bird cadets were about to walk in the cafeteria. The cadets stared at the squad in awe, wanting to ask questions but too frozen in shock to due anything. Then it didn't help when Mirja turned back to look at them as she walked away with her squad, giving a bright smile and a small wave of her hand, before turning back around and left out the doors following her squad.

 

* * *

 

"Pace yourself cadets! You don't need to use all your energy in one go!" Wolfram's voice boomed over the sound of shuffling feet on the training ground.

"This isn't a race, you guys. This is to see how long you can last and so far it only looks like one out of the fifty of you are capable of pacing yourselves," Arnoldo crossed his arms clearly not impressed, "You! What's your name cadet?" He pointed to the black haired female with a red scarf, while Scarlett gave the cue to the cadets to stop running.

Most of them dropped to the ground like flies. The squad had them running since they came out from breakfast to now. It was now ten in the morning. That was already three hours of straight running! This was almost as bad as Shadis' punishing them with laps.

"Mikasa Ackerman, sir," The girl stood in front of Arnoldo, hands at her sides.

"Ackerman, huh? Well Cadet Ackerman, you have our respect," Arnoldo nodded his head in approval, "For being the only one to know how properly pace themselves, you don't have to do the next session which is push ups."

The cadets around the squad automatically groaned bearing the words 'push ups'. Mikasa stayed where she was and looked at Arnoldo.

"Can I still do them if I want to?" She asked.

He eyed her a bit funny at first, but nodded, "Of coarse. Do as you please then." Mikasa nodded and turned to walk to two friends: the green eyed mouthy male during the reveal, and a blonde blue eyed male.

"One hundred push ups starting now!" Scarlett ordered, "First one to finish can go easy in the next session. This won't end until someone successfully completes a hundred push ups, and by successfully we mean chest to the ground and all the way up. No slacking. Mikasa right?" Arnoldo nodded, "Even if you complete this first you won't count since technically you don't have to do this session."

Mikasa nodded in understanding, then got into a push up position.

"Push ups starting..." Mirja announced looking at a timer, "Now!" Immediately the cadets that weren't on the floor, got into position and started the push ups.

Keith was behind the squad, watching, VERY amused, "Did you guys pick up on my ways?"

"We may have," Wolfram chuckled, "We only learn from the best."

As the cadets did their push ups, the Margaux Squad as well as some soldiers under Keith watched intently, making sure the push ups were being done correctly. If anyone saw anyone slacking, they were immediately told to start over again.

The push ups continued, the sounds of grunts and whines heard throughout the training grounds. Most were doing pretty good, but Ken kept his eyes on two cadets. One had blonde hair with golden eyes and the other had black hair with green eyes. You could easily tell they were two of the tallest in this group of cadets.

After a while, the blond haired cadet Ken had his eyes on finished. Ken knew, he counted each push up, "Scarlett. He's finished."

Scarlett looked over at Ken, which made Ken point to the cadet that finished. She walked over looking down at the male that had kept going, "Cadet you're finished. What's your name?"

The male faltered a bit in his push up, but stopped and got up quickly, saluting the female in front of him, "Reiner Braun, ma'am."

"At ease cadet," Scarlett chuckled, "You did well. You get to take it easy on the next session."

Reiner nodded giving her a small smile which Scarlett returned.

"Alright! Next session!" The cadets groaned again, not ready to continue with the trails this squad was making them do.

 

* * *

 

"Take a thirty minute break you guys!" Mirja said loudly, "You all deserve it," she smiled patting the backs of a few cadets near her.

Arnoldo and Ken walked around giving each cadet a bottle of water and a light snack. Scarlett and Wolfram were walking around talking to a few cadets telling them 'good job' or other encouraging words. By now the Margaux Squad learned the names of most of the cadets, especially the names of a group that seemed to stick together. Their names were Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, Jean Kirstein, Marco Bott, Sasha Braus, Connie Springer, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Annie Leonhart, Christa Lenz, and Ymir. Those cadets had sparked the squad's interest and vice versa.

"So may be ask a few question while we're on break?" Eren asked then chewed on some bread.

"No," Keith answered leaving the squad confused, "I think I have an idea that may entertain you more."

"And what may that be Keith? We're the ones in charge of the training not you~" Scarlett sang the last few words to try to mock him.

"Shut it Carl," Keith retorted making the female pout, "I was thinking you could show them some of your own skills. That being said I was thinking a race, and spar battles."

As soon as he said this, the cadets cheered in excitement. They were finally going to see some of this elite squad's talent.

"Oh I am so ready for this then," Wolfram grinned rubbing his hands together.

"Ready to lose that is," Scarlett intervened, a hand on her hip, a small smirk on her face.

"Winner gets double the serving of the food tonight," Arnoldo announced making it more interesting.

"WAIT?! So you're going to cook tonight then?!" Mirja's eyes seemed to gleam in excitement, and she yelled in happiness when Arnoldo nodded his head.

"Guess it's a bet then," Ken chuckled quietly hands behind his head.

"WAIT A SECOND! IF ARNOLDO IS COOKING DOES THAT MEAN WE CAN HAVE SOME TOO?!" Sasha got up excited, the tiredness in her body leaving as soon as she heard the word food.

Keith was about to reject but Scarlett shut him up with a raise of her hand, "Yes it does," Sasha screamed and fell back on the floor in happiness, making Scarlett look at the girl funny then looked back at her squad, "Anyway... Let's do the race first. Keith you set up the coarse."

Said man nodded and led the squad to a start line, "I need five volunteers from the cadets," Eren, Jean, Marco, Connie, and Reiner raised their hands, "Go over there where the woods start," The five jogged over to the area where Keith said, "From the starting line to where the cadets are is about a twenty meter run. Whoever reaches their designated cadet and hi-fives them first, wins. Got it?" The way the squad stood at the starting line and the cadets stood at the finish line, the designated partners were: Jean and Scarlett, Eren and Arnoldo, Marco and Mirja, Connie and Ken, and finally Reiner and Wolfram.

"Yes sir!" Again the squad did a half heartedly salute and they all simultaneously bent down, all of them getting into a sprinters crouch. The other cadets either sat on the ground still snacking or stood, but they were all watching intently.

"Cadets get ready. Stand about five feet behind the finish line with your hands ready for a high five," the five cadets did as told, "Get ready..." Keith started, "Get set..." he raised an arm with a starter pistol in his hand, "GO!"

As soon as the pistol shot was heard, all everyone saw was big gusts of dust where the squad used to be. _WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE'D THEY GO THAT QUICK?_! Keith just smirked seeing the shocked faces of the cadets. 

"Oomf!" Connie was knocked down onto the ground with blunt force after a blur high-fived his hand, with Ken standing behind him, fixing his face mask.

"What the...?!" Jean didn't get to finish as he was knocked down to the ground right after he felt a hand smack against his, Scarlett stopping herself before crashing into a tree.

"O-oh my!" Marco exclaimed as Mirja ran by him, giving him a soft high five, his eyes had barely seen anyone run up to them.

"Beat you again Wolfram," Arnoldo snickered, already high-fiving Eren, standing beside the cadet.

"Shit!" Wolfram cursed catching his breath a bit, after already high-fiving Reiner.

"WHAT WAS THAT?! How are you guys so fast?!" Eren exclaimed, clearly amazed at their speed.

Ken had already helped Connie up, bowing his head a bit as an apology. Connie was still in shock but told his superior to not worry about it because that was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

"Sorry Jean," Scarlett extended her hand to Jean who gladly took it and got pulled up, "I was trying to dodge you, but yeah." She scratched her cheek in slight embarrassment.

"I-it's fine... How are you guys so fast?" Jean asked.

"Wow you guys got better. Wolfram who finished last finished in six seconds, which means Ken finished in three. Have you guys been training?" Keith asked.

"Of coarse. You know that when we're not in a mission we're training," Scarlett grinned, "And to answer your question Jean, we have been able to reach our top speed thanks to Keith here. If you guys thought he punished you, you should here all the stories about him punishing us when we were cadets."

"God don't remind. That was the worst," Wolfram groaned.

"Did he make you run until the sun got down?" Sasha asked, knowing the horrible punishment herself.

"Only until the sun got down?" Wolfram asked appalled, "KEITH?! You went easy on her!"

"Wait easy on her? What do you mean?" Armin stood up asking.

"He made us run for three days straight!" Scarlett groaned, "What the shit Keith. You totally went easy on her and probably the rest of them too. He made us run for three days straight, but he wouldn't allow us to eat or drink anything in that time either. He was such an asshole," Scarlett whined shivering at the memory.

Keith scoffed and hit the female over the head, "Shut it Carl. You all deserved that and you know it."

"Why's that?" Asked Marco.

"We may or may not have pranked Keith by dropping a bucket of paste then feathers on him," Mirja rubbed her neck, laughing at the memory.

"WHAT?!" The cadets yelled in shock.

"Anyway!" Keith yelled trying to change the subject, "How about a spare battle now?"

"Sure, BUT I don't want want to spare anyone in my squad. We already know who will win. Just like how we already knew who would win in the race. Ken always wins. The only things that change is second to last place," The female put her hair up in a bun, and cracked her neck a bit. Then she looked right at one of the blonde female cadets, "You. I want to spare you."

Everyone's eyes widened (except her squad and Keith's). She was looking right at Annie. Annie looked at Scarlett with a bored look, but the cadets could see a glint of excitement in her usual emotionless eyes.

"How about it Leonhart?" Scarlett grinned, "I heard from Keith that you're one of the best fighters here. I just want to see it for myself. Winner gets extra food for tonight?" Scarlett asked looking at Arnoldo. Said male thought a bit but nodded, "So... You up for a challenge Leonhart?"

"Not like I can say no, Captain," Annie spoke in a almost mocking tone but still bored.

"True, I would've just ordered you if you said no," Scarlett chuckled, "Let's go Leonhart."

Wolfram cheered making everyone form a circle around the two females.

"My bets are on Annie," Reiner said crossing his arms, "Sure Scarlett is strong but no one here has beat Annie yet."

"Same goes for Scar," Arnoldo informed, "So I would say this shall be quite an interesting fight."

Annie got in her usual boxing like position, meanwhile Scarlett stretched her arms a bit. The red-haired female closed her eyes while taking a deep breath, then exhaled, her eyes shooting open. Her eyes were like flickering flames, eyeing Annie up and down as she got into her own fighting stance. Scarlett's legs were slightly apart, one right arm bent right against her body with the fist forward, and her elbow back. Her left arm was up in a almost defense like position, but Scarlett opened her left fist and taunted Annie, a small smirk on her face. Annie's face showed a small frown, but immediately went stoic again. Annie wasn't going to attack first, she never did, so she stared at the red-haired female with a bored look.

Scarlett smirked a bit to herself knowing exactly what to do. She immediately charged forward to the blonde, making Annie tense up a bit but nevertheless got ready to do her famous kick. As soon as Scarlett was close enough, Annie aimed her kick right at her leg with full force to only hit air which made her lose her balance a bit. _How did I miss?_ , Annie thought. Everyone around them gasped as Scarlett grabbed onto Annie's shoulders and jumped to dodge the kick, and threw herself over Annie's short structure, landing behind the blonde female, kicking the back of her knees. Annie let out a small grunt as she fell forward on her knees.

"Get her Margaux!" Wolfram cheered, pumping his fist in the hair.

Annie glared at Scarlett quickly getting up, and charged right for the female Captain's stomach catching said female of guard when she got the wind knocked out of her. Annie aimed a punch at her face, for the fist to only be caught, a knee hitting Annie right in the stomach, making her cough. The next thing everyone saw was dirt floating in the hair, everyone coughing a bit swatting the dirt away. Once the dust cleared, Wolfram and Arnoldo smirked. Ken chuckled a bit and Mirja grinned. Keith only shook his head hiding a smile.

"Told you cadet," Arnoldo said looking at Reiner.

Annie was with her back on the ground, eyes wide as she looked up at the female above her. Scarlett's booted foot was on her throat, not applying pressure really, with one of her hands holding Annie's left wrist captive. It was in a position where if Scarlett wanted she could easily break her wrist.

"Truce?" Scarlett asked looking down at Annie.

"Truce..." Annie answered a little disappointed in herself.

Scarlett immediately removed her foot from the blonde female's throat, and gently grabbed said female's wrist and pulled her up, "Call me Scarlett or Scar alright Annie? Not Captain. Someone like you definitely does not need to call me Captain. You're the only one that has landed a hit on me in a while. You have my props," Scarlett grinned extending a hand to Annie, "You have my utmost respect."

Annie looked at Scarlett, a small almost invisible smile forming on her face, "And you can call me Annie... Scar." Both females shook hands finishing the fight with mutual respect.

"Plus don't worry, I'll let you have the extra food since you've never had Arnoldo's cooking before. Deal?" The blonde female nodded making the red-haired one grin, "Cool."

"Alright cadets! Break time is over! Arnoldo what next?" Keith's voice boomed over making the cadets scatter around a bit.

"Easy now Keith. Now that we've seen what they're capable of, we can definitely tone it down. Other than Annie, I want everyone to pair up and get ready to spar. Wolfram and I will be watching intently to see what you all need improving on," Instructed Scarlett.

"Move it cadets! Pair up!" Wolfram ordered making everyone quickly pair up.

"These kids learn fast," Arnoldo nodded his head.

"Agreed!" Mirja grinned, while Ken nodded, as they watched all the pairs start their spar battles.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to hold off on uploading more chapters until the weekend, but here I am uploading more. Enjoy~


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Levi Squad make their appearance, and the Margaux Squad decides to have some fun.

"This is the most amazing thing I've ever had!" Sasha exclaimed then continued stuffing her face with the delicious food that Arnoldo had made.

"After this, the cafeteria food will never taste the same anymore!" Eren added eating happily.

Arnoldo chuckled, "I'm glad you all like it."

"Mike! Hanji!" Scarlett waved over the two leaders that had just walked into the cafeteria, "Hurry and get some food before the cadets eat it all!"

Hanji grinned, and happily pranced over, sitting in an empty spot beside Mirja while Mike sat beside Arnoldo.

"So I take the cadets did well in their training?" Mike asked.

"Very. They all did well, and did all the trails we made them so they deserve this," Arnoldo informed serving Hanji and Mike a plate of food.

"Isn't Shadis going to join us?" Hanji asked.

"He said he had to talk to Erwin, so we gave him two plates to go," Scarlett spoke eating a bit, then served the cadets around her some extra food, "Oh yeah," she got up holding a bowl of pasta and walked over to Annie, "A deal's a deal~" she served Annie a complete second plate with a grin, making the blonde female give the latter a tiny smile.

"So the Special Operations Squad is suppose to be coming back tomorrow right?" Asked Wolfram after swallowing his food.

"That's what Commander said," Hanji answered happily eating, "Oh my god... Yup best food ever! Arnoldo you have a talent sent from the Gods!"

Arnoldo only chuckled and drank some water. The cafeteria was filled with happy munching on food and delightful chatter. No one has had a homemade meal like this in a long time, so they were all enjoying this dinner quite a bit. The cadets just felt honored that the Margaux Squad were not only treating them to dinner, but they were being treated like friends. The training they had done today was definitely going to push them forward to being better soldiers. If they didn't, they would just be putting the training the squad taught them to waste.

"So uhm... May we ask a few questions while we eat? We just want to learn a bit more about you guys," Armin asked shyly, playing with his food a bit.

"Of coarse, but uh, don't ask about the rest of our members. Like I said yesterday, that's a story for another time," Scarlett answered, drinking some water.

"Ok," Armin smiled nodding, "Hm... let's see... How long have you guys been together as friends and then as a squad?"

"We have officially been in a squad since we graduated the training camp so..." Scarlett purses her lips thinking a bit, "Uh..."

"You were sixteen when we graduated, and you're twenty-three now so seven years now," Arnoldo finished setting his plates to be side, "As for being friends... I think almost thirteen years, right?"

"Arnoldo and I have known Scar for thirteen years. Mirja has known her for her whole life," Wolfram chuckled, "They're cousins for goodness sake. Then Ken has known Scar for three, almost four years now."

"Wait so what you're saying is that Ken is the newest member out of all of you?" Jean asked a bit confused.

Ken nodded his head but Mirja talked for him, "That is also another story for another time. The things we are reluctant about talking are more on the personal side so don't take offense if we don't answer it."

The cadets simultaneously nodded their heads in agreement not wanting to offend the squad in front of them.

"So if Ken is the fastest, who is the strongest?" Reiner asked.

"Isn't that easy to tell?" Scarlett laughed, "Wolfram is. He's all brute force and can knock down a hundred Reiner's and Bertholdt's."

"So he's the one that always wins in a fight?" Eren asked.

"Nope," Wolfram shook his head crossing his arms, "Scarlett is the best fighter out of all of us. I'm brute force and don't always think things through," he chuckled rubbing his neck, "Scarlett is both strength and brains."

"And Arnoldo is the brains of the group?" Armin asked making the brown haired male nod, "So what would Mirja be?"

"She's our secret weapon," Scarlett grinned, "Her innocent face hides what she can really do. She is actually quite fast and agile. She is the best in working with the 3DM gear as well."

"Oh!!! When will we see you guys work with your gear?" Connie asked excited.

"Who knows," Arnoldo shrugged, "Today we were asked to train you guys, but tomorrow Erwin might have us do something else. We are still the Undercover Operations Squad so we will continue to do missions that others will not know about, but we will help with missions or expeditions all the other Corps have to do when Erwin asks."

"Oh! So you may be working with us in the future?" Hanji grinned, eyes sparkling.

"That is quite a possibility," Arnoldo answered.

"Great! I can't wait!" Hanji clapped, "I can't wait until you guys meet Levi's Squad! I feel like you guys will get along great."

"Well, I can't wait until I meet Humanity's Strongest Soldier," Scarlett hummed, "I also heard rumors he's pretty good looking~"

Mirja and Wolfram bursted out in laughter, and Arnoldo rolled his eyes. Ken stayed quiet, his food already gone from his food. Again, no one saw what his face looked like because they were too busy talking or eating.

"Oh ho ho~ So you have a thing for Levi?" Hanji rose her eyebrow, a smirk growing on her face.

"No, I just heard he's good looking," Scarlett laughed, "Plus I want to fight him."

"That's right... weren't you nicknamed Humanity's Tenacious Soldier?" Mike asked, making the cadets look at Scarlett in awe.

"Mhm. I haven't been called that in a while though," the red haired female stretched a bit, "I kinda miss it."

"Mikasa isn't this amazing?! We were able to hang out with one of the elite squads today!" Eren exclaimed, a fist in the air, "I'm going to train to be as good as them."

Mikasa hummed in response, a small smile hidden behind her scarf. Armin smiled patting his brown haired friend on the shoulder.

They all continued to chat and eat until it was time to go to bed. The Margaux Squad knew they would have a busy day tomorrow, even if they didn't know what they were going to be doing exactly. Erwin always had something different up his sleeves for them after all.

 

* * *

 

"God damn it's hot today," Wolfram groaned, pulling his hair in his usual low ponytail.

"Don't remind me. I hate working in weather like this," Scarlett whined, finishing one out of the two French braids in her hair.

"Good thing we left our jackets back in our rooms then huh?" Mirja chuckled, "What do you think Erwin will have us do today? It's only what? Six thirty in the morning? And he still hasn't told us what to do."

"He mentioned last night that we may have the day off today so we could get back into the flow of things again," Ken spoke quietly, "Plus he said it would let the soldiers in the Corps get to know us as well."

"True..." Arnoldo rubbed his chin a bit, "Should I maybe make a dinner again today?"

Scarlett laughed, and turned around to face her squad, walking backwards, "Are you sure you just don't miss cooking Arnoldo~?"

Said male rolled his eyes, "We treated the cadets. It wouldn't be fair if we didn't treat the Corps soldiers, _Captain_ ," he finished in a mocking tone, knowing she didn't like being addressed as Captain.

"True," Scarlett made a small face at him, not able to see the incoming group of people that turned the corner in the hall way. Usually she was very alert, but it was morning and she was in a relaxed state, so of coarse she didn't sense the people approaching her back.

"Scar-" Ken started, but didn't get to finish as she crashed right into a short black haired male, the male stumbling back, pushing the female forward annoyed.

"What the hell?!" The voice was deep and cold, "Watch where the fuck you're going cadet."

Scarlett jumped a bit just from shock, letting go of the second braid she was threading, clearly her work going to waste, the growling voice leaving her unfazed, quickly turning around, having to look slightly down, "I'm sorry, you are correct. I should've been watching where I was going BUT who the fuck are you exactly?"

The eyes of the four people behind the black haired male widened in shock and in almost fear for the red-haired female.

"Tch," the male scoffed, "You're new here and you don't even know the Captain here? Pathetic."

"Captain...?" Scarlett thought for a bit, then eyes widened as she realized who was in front of her. Her mouth formed a small 'o' shape as she now knew she had crashed into Humanity's Strongest Soldier, Captain Levi. She looked down at the shorter male, expecting him to had been a bit taller but nonetheless he was actually as good looking as they said. Too bad he sounded like a complete jerk. _It's always the cute ones,_ she thought a bit a hand on her hip.

Arnoldo nudged Scarlett on her side snapping her out of her thoughts and looked at Levi, "I apologize for my friend here. She hasn't eaten yet."

Scarlett's mouth went agape again, "Are you trying to call me fat?!"

Wolfram laughed and patted Scar's head, "Easy now soldier."

Arnoldo gave them all a look. As soon as the word 'captain' had left Levi's lips he knew who was in front of them. He sent a glance at the rest of the his squad letting them know as well with one look.

"Ah..." Mirja nodded her smiling a bit, and Ken only nodded.

"Now get out of the way cadets. Don't you stupid cadets usually wake up later?" Levi growled.

"Take a chill pill shorty," Scarlett glared at him, "For your information-"

She didn't get to finish as Levi interrupted her with a harsh voice, "Laps now. The whole field. All of you until noon. No food until you're all done. NOW CADETS."

The faces of the Margaux Squad showed pure shock, except for Ken whose eyes only showed slight amusement. He really didn't know who they were? Well that should've been expected really, but laps? _What the hell?_

"Wait a second-" Again Scarlett got interrupted.

"Did I stutter cadet?!" Levi hissed.

Scarlett's amber eyes looked over at her squad, then laid eyes specifically on Mirja. Mirja rose her eyebrow, her mouth slightly turning into a devious grin. Scarlett caught on. They were going to prank the oh so famous Special Operations Squad. Scarlett gave all her members a small nod before quickly turning forward and giving a perfect salute, making the four behind her follow in suit.

"Sorry Captain! We're right on it," The red-haired female dropped her salute and quickly ran out the building followed by the four people behind her.

 

* * *

 

"Uh..." Erwin watched the Margaux Squad running laps around the field, confused, "Care to explain why you're running laps?"

"Shh! He might be watching!" Scarlett warned, then laughed a bit running.

"Don't try to get us in trouble again _Commander_ ," Mirja added, a tone of amusement in her voice.

That confused Erwin even more. The last time they addressed him as a formal title was... when they were still cadets in training. What the hell was going on?

"Is it noon yet?" Wolfram groaned, still running, "What kind of bullshit punishment is this?! And why are we even doing it?!"

"Punishment? Who punished you?" Erwin asked now definitely intrigued, "Was Keith around her earlier?"

Arnoldo checked the time on a pocket watch in his pocket, and stopped running, "It's noon now. Care to explain why the hell we did what he said now Scar?"

Scarlett and Mirja looked at each other and laughed making everyone confused, "Isn't it easy to tell?" The blond female asked, "We're pranking Levi and his squad."

"Wait, you guys met them already? Scarlett you are aware you don't have to do as he says right?" Erwin questioned furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"I understand that," Scarlett crossed her arms, catching her breath, "But it's like Mirja said. We are pranking the Special Operations Squad. I accidentally bumped into the famous captain while heading to breakfast and long story short, he didn't know who we were, which is reasonable, and punished us to laps because of my mouth."

" _Your_ mouth," Arnoldo emphasized, "We just met them and you're already wanting to prank them? Couldn't this wait a bit?"

"Nope. He has a nasty attitude," Scarlett crossed her arms, "Besides it's not like we're making him look like a chicken like Keith or covering his room in slop like Erwin's," Erwin shivered at the memory, "It's a simple prank really. We're just going to continue to act like new soldiers, cadets as he called us, in the Corps. We're going to be obedient little soldiers until further notice. Got it?"

Ken shrugged a bit but nodded. He was actually quite in for this plan. Wolfram laughed a bit but nodded. Arnoldo pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head a bit but nodded. Mirja had been on board since Scarlett looked at her earlier.

"Erwin?" Scarlett asked innocently, looking up at her blond Commander with big puppy dog eyes, "Can you help us out please?"

Erwin's posture faltered a bit looking at the younger red-haired female in front of him. She knew exactly how to make him do as she asked. She was like a daughter to him after all. He gulped a bit but asked anyway, "How exactly do you want me to help?"

"Let all your soldiers know, except Levi's Squad of coarse, what we're up to. Tell them to keep their mouths quiet about who we really are. Tell them to treat us as if we really are new soldiers in the Corps. Y'know to make this all more believable. Oh! Get Mike and Hanji to help you spread the word," Scarlett grinned, "I'm sure Hanji will love to help us out."

"I guess I can do that... How long is this going to last?" Erwin asked.

"Hm... probably until tomorrow morning. I just can't wait until we see their faces of shock when we tell them who we really are. Come on Erwin this will be good," Scarlett grinned, "It'll make some of your soldiers happy knowing there's pranksters like us in your Corps. Don't you think?"

"I guess some fun won't do them harm..." Erwin sighed and nodded, "Alright... but don't cause Levi and his squad too much trouble ok?"

"Can't promise you that," Mirja laughed and started walking to the building that held the cafeteria to finally get some food, followed by the rest of the squad.

 

* * *

 

It was now finally dinner time. After a whole day of training like new Corps members, the Margaux Squad were exhausted. Not from the training, but the punishments that Captain Levi made them do every time one of the members rebelled, and trust me, they all rebelled... a lot. Yes, even Ken and Arnoldo. Ken rebelled when he didn't want to run the laps Levi had ordered them to do. Sure he could have finished them in thirty seconds or less but he was not feeling the short black haired male's attitude. Arnoldo rebelled when he refused to spar an actual 'fresh out of training' soldier. He only refused by saying he didn't feel like losing. What a lie that was. He could have easily beaten that soldier, but he had seen the small fear in the soldier's eyes when Levi paired him up with one of the Margaux Squads members. As for Wolfram, Mirja, and Scarlett, they rebelled on one too many occasions. Levi had had enough of them, to where he sent them to do thirty more laps before dinner.

"I've never been so annoyed with cadets," Levi growled, holding his tray of food, walking to the table where his squad and he usually sat.

"Don't stress so much Captain," the strawberry blonde female, Petra, beside him spoke, "Hopefully after those laps you made them do, they learned their lesson?"

The taller blonde male, Eld, near them chuckled, "Hm, I don't think they will. They're very stubborn."

"Tch... don't remind me," Levi hissed then saw Erwin motioning them over. He internally frowned a bit but walked over to the table where Erwin, Hanji, and Mike sat. Of coarse his squad followed.

Hanji, Mike, Levi, Petra, Eld, Gunther, and Oruo all sat on one side of the table. Erwin was seated on the opposite side, looking towards the door, waiting for someone. A squad specifically. His wishes were answered as he saw the Margaux Squad at the doors of the cafeteria. Scarlett of coarse had dramatically slammed open the door, her red hair in a messy bun, loose curls framing her face, panting ever so slightly, amber eyes glaring daggers at nothing in particular. Wolfram even had his hair in small bun, moving some stray hairs out of his face, growling a bit. Arnoldo wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, a small scowl set on his face. Mirja has small droplets of sweat running down her innocent face, a small smile still on her face, but her uneven breath showed she was annoyed, or tired. Ken still had his face mask on, his hair actually slicked back by a bandana like material, eyes slightly narrowed at the ground.

"Oí," Levi growled, "Stop acting so dramatic and sit your asses down and eat."

Before Scarlett even had the chance to retort, Erwin motioned her over, her eyes immediately softening. Levi looked at Erwin confused but didn't say anything as the Margaux Squad made their way over, and sat in the empty seats beside the blonde Commander.

"Scar-" Erwin forgot he was suppose to act like he didn't know them well, "Cadet, I take it you were doing laps again?"

Scarlett only nodded a bit before looking around for a not-busy soldier, "Hey you!"

The soldier turned around to see it was Captain Margaux talking to him, immediately running over and saluting, "M-Ma'am!" Scarlett gave him a small look but smiled making him drop his salute. Right the prank.

"Be a dear and get us some tea please? Remember you owe us for doing that chore of yours the other day," Scarlett lied flawlessly.

"R-right! Be right back," The soldier smiled and left.

"I'll get us some food," Arnoldo was a bit annoyed. He wanted to treat these soldiers to a nice surprise dinner but with all the punishments his squad received, they never had time to go and make said dinner. They had to settle for the usual and boring dinner for tonight.

"I'll help," Ken got up following Arnoldo to the line of food.

Hanji grinned, enjoying Levi's confused and annoyed look, but nevertheless looked at Scarlett, "Is Levi being that harsh? Levi you should take it easy on them. They are _new_ ," she snickered, emphasizing on the last word.

"They're brats," Levi scoffed making Hanji laugh and Mike smirk a bit.

"We wouldn't be such brats if you weren't such an ass," Scarlett growled but calmed down after Erwin laid a rough but soft hand on her shoulder.

Levi looked at Erwin and the red-haired female in confusion, "Why the hell did you ask them to sit with us?" He carefully picked up his cup of tea, and took a few sips eyeing the blond man.

"Uh..." Erwin didn't know what to say.

"Oh look! Tea!" Scarlett exclaimed happily as the soldier she asked brought back a tray of five cups of tea, "Thank you! We're even now." Said soldier smiled and left going back to his friends. Scarlett grabbed her own cup, stirring sugar into it while humming.

"Hey is that a deer?" Mirja asked pointing to a window on the opposite side of their table. Everyone including Erwin, Levi, and Scarlett looked. Mirja took this chance to switch Levi and Scarlett's cups quickly without spilling any of the contents. Hanji saw what Mirja did, an eyebrow raising in curiosity.

"Hm..." Hanji hummed in amusement, trying to hide a smile.

"Aw sorry guys, you missed it," Mirja shrugged acting innocent.

Arnoldo and Ken soon came back with with five trays of food. Everyone started eating in a small awkward atmosphere. Levi kept looking up at the red-haired female and blonde Commander. Just what the hell was going on?

As soon as Scarlett reached over for 'her' cup of tea, Mirja had to hold back some devious snickers. Hanji watched in amusement, eating her food in anticipation. Scarlett lifted the cup to her mouth, the liquid flowing into her mouth, but eyes widened before she swallowed. In reflex she spit the liquid out her mouth, disgusted at the taste, "WHAT THE SHIT?!"

Everyone in the cafeteria got quiet. They couldn't believe their eyes. Captain Margaux just spit her tea at the person sitting directly in front of her... Captain Levi. Oh, she was a dead woman. Mirja bit her lip holding back laughter and Hanji let out a quiet snicker watching the scene unfold. Ken's eyes were in shock, while Arnoldo just stared blankly. _Did that just happen?_

Then the quiet was cut short as Wolfram burst in laughter, "Holy shit! Oh my god! Scarlett you outdid yourself this time!" 

"H-huh?" Scarlett wiped her mouth with a napkin then looked at the person in front of her. _Shit, I am so dead._

Imaginary smoke seemed to come off the black haired male, as he sat there in anger, glaring at his spoiled white shirt. He wiped his face with a napkin, a rude scowl on his face. As he looked up at Scarlett, she gulped a bit seeing that deadly glare. His squad seemed to squirm away a bit in their seats afraid of their angry Captain.

"W-wait, I can explain I swear!" Scarlett quickly spoke, "I did not mean to do that, I swear!" Scarlett groaned rubbing her face in frustration, "I went to drink my tea but it was bitter??? I had just put a lot of sugar in it so it threw me off?? I'm not used to black tea so I panicked?" The red-haired female looked to Erwin for help. Said blonde still had his eyes wide in shock not knowing what to do or say.

"You fucking brat," Levi hissed and hesitantly picked up 'his' cup of tea. As soon as the liquid hit hit tongue, he spat it back into the cup, a look of disgust on his face, "Who the fuck switched our teas?" The questioned snarled off his tongue, making everyone slightly shiver.

Mirja put her hand up, a slop-sided grin on her face, "I'm sorry sir, I couldn't resist," she chuckled a bit to herself, "I didn't expect her to spit it out though. That's a first for Scarlett."

Erwin, Mike, Arnoldo,and Ken looked at Mirja wide eyed. Wolfram kept laughing in his seat not even surprised when Mirja confessed. Hanji finally let out her laughter, and Scarlett looked at Mirja mouth agape.

The next moment, Levi had stood up and reached over the table, grabbing Mirja by her collar pulling her closer, "You think this is funny?! You cadets are so fucking annoying! How the hell are you in the fucking Corps?!" He yelled in her face, Mirja actually wincing at the male yelling at her.

Immediately the Margaux Squad stood up, death glares on Scarlett and Wolfram's faces, pissed. _How dare he touch her like that?_

"L-Levi I suggest you let her go..." Erwin informed slowly standing up to diffuse the situation.

"Why are you defending these obnoxious brats?!" Levi scoffed letting go of the girl's collar, pushing her back a bit. Ken quickly went to check if Mirja was ok, Mirja only nodding with a small smile.

"Alright that's it," Scarlett growled under her breath, freeing her hair in annoyance, glaring at the male in front of her, "Don't you ever lay a hand on any of my squad members again."

"Tch," Levi said back down glaring at the female in front of her, "Or else what? They're not your squad. They are just your annoying friends."

"Alright this is ending right now. This prank is over," Arnoldo sneered glaring at Levi, "I wouldn't get so cocky if I was you _Captain_."

"Prank? What prank? I thought the prank was the tea thing?" Gunther asked confused.

Erwin sighed rubbing his neck nervously, "That was a side prank. The real prank is them hiding their identities from all of you. Er... or well..." He didn't know how to exactly word it.

"We are the Undercover Operations Squad," Scarlett informed in a serious tone, her face stoic, "I am Squad Leader Scarlett Margaux, or Captain Scarlett Margaux. Whatever floats your boat."

Squad Levi's eyes widened in shock. Wait a second? _That squad was real?_ This was them? What the hell?!

"Tch, real funny brat," Levi scoffed, "You're cleaning my shirt, I hope you know that."

"I don't have to do shit you say. We only did what you said this whole day to prank you. We fooled you into thinking we were fresh new soldiers. The prank is over, so let me repeat myself," Scarlett looked at Levi dead in the eye, "We don't have to do shit you say."

Before Levi could scold her, Erwin spoke up, "It's true. I had revealed them when you guys were out on that mission I sent you. I'll give you the whole speech I gave all the other soldiers and cadets later if you want, but she is not lying. They are who used to me known as the Aliferous Squad," before Orou asked 'weren't they dead?', Erwin spoke again, "Like I said I'll explain in better detail later in my office. That's why I called you guys into a meeting tonight."

"I knew they looked familiar... but I couldn't place where..." Petra muttered under her breath.

"And Levi?" Said male looked at the Commander, "Believe it or not, she actually has more superiority over you. You may have been with us longer than she has, but she has earned her place.  She is Humanity's Tenacious Soldier after all."

Scarlett looked at Levi with a small smirk, Levi's eye twitching in annoyance. He got up, holding his tray and cup, and left the cafeteria after disposing of the dishes.

"So... they're real?" Eld asked looking at Erwin.

"They're standing right in front of you," Erwin answered sitting back down.

".... And how the hell are they alive?" Oruo questioned.

"Again, I'll explain in the meeting later. Please make sure Levi is there as well, ok?" Erwin ordered.

Squad Levi nodded and looked forward at the Margaux Squad. They couldn't believe... they were actually real. They were right in front of them. They were known to be some of the Corps best soldiers, but with what they just pulled, was this really them?

Hanji finally laughed again, snapping them out of their thoughts, "I can see why you guys were also nicknamed the 'Knavery Squad'. They had you guys completely fooled!" She laughed joyously patting Gunther's back a bit hard.

Scarlett sat back down her head in her hands, groaning a bit.

"Are you ok Scar?" Arnoldo asked rubbing her back gently.

"Yeah... I'm going to go apologize. I didn't get to properly apologize to him for spitting in his face," Scarlett got up making her squad confused, "I'm not sorry for the prank we pulled. He deserved that for not even asking who we were before punishing us like hell. I'm apologizing for spitting in his face because I really did not mean that. I'll be back."

"Don't fight with him got it Scarlett?" Erwin ordered.

Scarlett looked at him and grinned, "I wouldn't dare fight him..." Erwin nodded in approval, "Without an audience," Erwin face palmed as well as Arnoldo, "Ok yeah I'll be back."

The red-haired female went into the kitchen, and left the cafeteria with a pot of freshly brewed tea, two tea cups, and some cake she had stashed in a fridge when they had moved all their stuff back to the HQ.

"Mirja... why did you pull that prank?" Arnoldo finally asked with Scarlett no where in their sights.

Mirja only smiled, and answered after she swallowed some food she had her mouth, "Why not? It cut some of the tension at the table didn't it?"

"You made her spit in his face," The brown haired male looked dead at her face, making her laugh.

"Again I did not expect that," she chuckled again drinking some water, "Come on. Just admit it, it was funny as shit."

As soon as the word 'shit' left her mouth, Wolfram laughed. His laugh as contagious as ever made the whole table laugh, even Levi's squad. It was actually quite funny. The other soldiers in the cafeteria who witness the whole scene could help to laugh as well. No one had ever done something like that to Captain Levi, and no one had ever successfully pulled a prank on Squad Levi. Dinner continued as light chatter filled the cafeteria again.

Elsewhere Scarlett had gotten herself lost. She didn't even know where Levi's office was. 

"What a dumbass..." she muttered under her breath until she spotted a random soldier, "Hey you. Where's Levi's office?"

The soldier saluted her, then dropped his salute as soon as she nodded her head to him, "It's actually the door right there ma'am."

Scarlett stared at the door right in front of her, "Oh. Very well then. Thank you," she thanked him with a smile as he left. With her free hand, she knocked on his door. No answer. She knocked again. No answer again. Was that soldier sure this was his office? Just as she was about to knock again, the door opened wide, and her fist almost connected with his forehead. Then her eyes trailed down to his body, seeing his bare chest, a towel wrapped around his waist. 

He had just got out of a quick shower. Scarlett looked away, "U-uh I'll wait until you're dressed."

"What do you want?" Levi asked in a cold tone, another towel on his head drying out his hair.

"I wanted to apologize for spitting on you. It really was not my intention," Scarlett kept her gaze locked on a frame on the wall to the left of her, "I also brought you some fresh tea since you couldn't enjoy yours..."

"Tch..." He was annoyed, sure, but he was surprised she had actually came to apologize, "Come in. I'll be back," He walked into another room, she assumed his bedroom was connected to his office just like hers was.

She walked in and set the tray of tea and cake on his desk, seeing everything was in place. She could smell how clean it was in here. It was almost scary. She sat down, a hand on her face. 

Why did she have to be such a girl right now? She had seen him without a shirt, and _damn_ he looked really good. She groaned and quickly fixed her hair. 

"Stop it Margaux," Scarlett growled to herself, "You haven't even formally politely introduced each other yet." A soft laugh left her lips as she shook her head. The black haired male probably already hated her for the prank they pulled, so she thought nothing more of what she had seen moments ago. Whether he liked it not, they would be working together now. Neither had a choice. Scarlett silently tapped her fingers on her knee and smiled. It wouldn't be too bad to actually get to know the other fellow elite squad. They could still be friends... right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Another chapter~ Enjoy!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth behind Erwin and Scarlett's relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this before uploading it, but it is 3:46 AM after a whole day of work and shopping, so I hope it's okay! Sorry in advance though.

"So, you're the oh so infamous Scarlett Margaux?" Levi asked sitting at his desk, one leg crossing the other, as he watched said female serve tea in two cups.

Her loose curls bounced just a bit as she nodded her head, making him raise an eyebrow in amusement, "That's my name. And you're the famous Levi Ackerman?" She carefully passed him a cup of black tea with no sugar or anything, just as he requested, as he nodded to her question. She stirred sugar into her own cup, taking a small sip, smiling when she was content with the taste. "Oh! I brought some cake. I'm not sure if you like sweets, but I figured it was better than the stale bread you're used to."

The way Levi held his cup while drinking his tea, made Scarlett tilt her head a bit in confusion, but he spoke before she said anything, "I'm not a big fan of sweets... But what flavor is it?"

"Vanilla. It's something simple, but tasty. Want one?" She looked at him, only getting a curt nod in response. She cut him a small slice and passed the plate to him. She cut a piece for herself, slowly eating the piece. Everything in the office was practically spotless. _Is he obsessed with cleaning?_

"It's not bad," Levi said in his steely voice drinking some tea again, "Next time just bring some simple toast cadet," her eyes narrowed at him, "Right right, _Captain_." That word alone felt weird when he directed it to someone else.

Scarlett groaned, "I hate formalities. Just call me Scarlett or Scar. Even Margaux is fine, just not Captain."

"How can you hate it when that's what you are. You worked hard for it, didn't you?"

"That's not the point. I believe we are all equal. We all need to work as a team, and treat each other as a team. I understand there has to be leaders and that they are to be treated with respect, but when you live with the same people twenty-four seven is when you realize that you're all the same. Formalities can be useless at times. That's why even the training cadets are allowed to not only call me, but my whole squad by our first name. It's rare when we pull rank. It's usually only for certain serious situations." The red-haired female shrugged a bit, finishing her cake, "Just ask Erwin. He'll tell you that this is something I've believed in ever since I was a trainee."

"You seem to be very close to Erwin..." Levi started, trying to find the right words to his thoughts, "You're not... You're not his lover are you?"

The female in front of him looked at him appalled, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Then she started laughing, her laughter like a melody to his ears, "Hell no. I mean he's a handsome man and all, and he's a total sweetheart when you TRULY get to know him, but no. He's like well..." She tapped a finger on her chin thinking, "Want me to be honest?" He nodded, "...He's like a father to me. He's like a father to everyone in our squad. He and Keith have looked out for us ever since we were trainees. They've been with us through thick and thin and we... we became a small family. Keith eventually became like an uncle to us while Erwin our father. Their relationship to us is one of the reasons that have given us determination all of these years," a gentle smile rested on her lips, "And it makes me happy knowing Erwin and Keith think the same about us."

Levi listened to the female intently, actually a bit surprised to hear what she said. Erwin and Keith were like family to her and her squad? Erwin he could see. Levi knew he was a softie deep down, but Shadis? The ruthless and cruel Shadis? This squad had to be some quite valuable soldiers to make Shadis treat a whole squad like family.

Minutes passed and there was a small comfortable silence as the tea and cake disappeared. Scarlett stood up, gathering the tray with the empty pot, cups, plates, and what was left of the cake.

"Ah... Again, I really am sorry for spitting on you," She bowed a bit as an apology, "But I will still not be cleaning your shirt." She gave him a sly grin, before opening his office door and left while chuckling and closing the door.

He stared at his door a bit, then rolled his eyes. _What a brat_. She was still a brat, no matter the rank, but he did respect the fact she had actually come to his office to apologize for something that was _kind of_ an accident. He guessed she was actually more mature than he thought, and probably her squad as well.

 

* * *

 

Levi was wrong. Oh boy, he was totally wrong. This squad was not mature at all. At least that's what he thought, as he watched three out of the five Margaux Squad members dangling by the wires of their gear. The three were too busy trying to beat each other in higher Titan dummy kills that they hadn't even bothered to communicate. The three had crashed into each other, each trying to save themselves, now somehow tangling in the woods they were in. Scarlett was hanging upside down, her hair loose, hair swaying as she swayed with each movement any of the three did. Wolfram was hanging at an angle, his leg somehow tangled with one wire and his waist tangled in another one. Then Mirja was hanging in a upright position off a tree branch, dangling a bit like a puppet since one of her arms and legs were caught in someone's wires.

Arnoldo was below them on the ground, looking at the three in disbelief, "How the hell did this even happen?" The three hanging above looked at each other to only laugh, making the brown haired male rub his temples, "I swear I'm away for not even five minutes and this happens."

Levi looked toward Arnoldo. He seemed to be the only one that was mature. _Wait a minute... wasn't there a fifth member?_ His eyes narrowed in question, trying to ignore the laughing Hanji who was laughing with the three in the air. The scientist kept trying to talk, but the fits of laughter kept winning. Mike stared at awe, now seeing this squad really did deserve to be called the Knavery Squad. Everyone was pretty much laughing except Levi, Arnoldo, and Mike. Levi bet that if Erwin and Keith were here, they would be laughing too. Even his own squad was laughing at the antics of the other 'elite' squad.

"Okay seriously," Scarlett's face turned stoic, "Please stop laughing and help us out. The blood is getting to my head."

"I'm pretty sure you can't get any dumber than you already are," Levi spat.

Amber eyes immediately glared at him, the male captain being unfazed, "Look you little shit-head. I didn't ask _you_ for your help. So fuck o-."

Before she finished her sentence, a blur of black flashed by making everyone shut up. Next thing they knew, Wolfram dropped to the ground with a loud thud, followed by his grunts. Right after him, Mirja and Scarlett simultaneously dropped to the ground. Unfortunately, Scarlett fell on top of a unlucky victim: Levi. He unsurprisingly caught her with a small grunt. As for Mirja, the same black blur sped by, and caught her in the air before landing next to Arnoldo.

"Ken! You saved us!" Mirja exclaimed happily, hugging said male's neck, and kissed his masked cheek making the apples of cheeks blossom with a blush.

"Wait what?! That blur we saw was Ken?!" Gunther exclaimed. Ken only nodded letting Mirja back on her feet.

"What. The. Fuck?" Wolfram cussed as he slowly got up with the use of one arm only, "Why'd you drop me so mercilessly?!"

"You and your wires were the reasons the two were dangling. I had to let you go in order to free them," Ken explained pushing his hands in his pockets.

"I understand that, but uhm... OW?!" Wolfram exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder, "I think I dislocated my shoulder..." Arnoldo walked up to the taller male from behind and quickly (and of course painfully) popped his shoulder back in place, making Wolfram yelp in pain, "A little warning next time would be appreciated."

"Be lucky I'm not beating all your asses for your stupidity," Arnoldo huffed. Mirja chuckled and tapped both of the older males shoulders then pointed to Levi and Scarlett. Levi still had Scarlett in his arms in a bridal style.

"Wow, you are quite the gentlemen Ackerman~" Scarlett purred.

"And you are quite heavy Margaux. Maybe you should stop eating so much cake," Levi retorted, a hand immediately slapping him across the face. He was shocked, though it wasn't visible. A small twitch of an eye was the most everyone else saw. She had actually slapped him. The rest of his squad's eyes were wide from the comment their Captain had said and Scarlett's comeback action. Her squad though only watched in amusement. Mike only watched with a stoic face. Hanji had her hand over her mouth in shock. She knew Levi could be a jerk, but not in that sense, especially to a fellow Captain. 

"You are surprisingly very insensitive you asshole," Scarlett pushed herself off him, knocking him a bit off balance, and walked towards her squad. She was honestly insulted. She took great pride in her body as she worked out a lot, despite her actual love for food. "If you excuse us, Erwin asked if we could train the soldiers later today so we have to finish our training here. Let's go guys." With a small nod of her head, they all jumped, and disappeared into the woods simple clicks of their gear.

"That was a low blow Levi. Even for you," Mike finally spoke up.

"Tch..." Levi scoffed, turning his head so no could see his reddening cheek.

 

* * *

 

By the time Hanji, Mike, and Squad Levi got done their gear training, they got back to the HQ when it was around seven in the afternoon. They walked by the training field to only see Wolfram, Arnoldo, Mirja, and Ken.

"Hiya!" Hanji went to stand by Mirja, who was watching some soldiers do push-ups, "Where's Scar?"

"Hm? Oh, she's with Erwin," Mirja gave the brown haired female a smile, "She was quite upset, and she didn't want to take her anger out on any of the soldiers here. So she decided to train by herself until she blew off the steam. Then Erwin had come by to see how everyone was doing, but noticed Scarlett not being with us. He went to go look for her on his own, and around thirty minutes ago, we saw the two heading back to the main building."

"I see," Hanji nodding a hand on her chin then couldn't help but grin, "He really is like family to you guys isn't he?"

Mirja turned to look at her and nodded, "Of course. He is especially very special to Scarlett. I wouldn't suggest anyone to try to fight or get under Erwin'a skin when she's around. You'll never live to see tomorrow."

Both girls laughed together, as Squad Levi and Mike overheard their conversation.

"Um... So Commander explained the whole situation with you guys last night in our meeting and he also did indirectly say he was close to you guys. Is there a specific reason why?" Petra asked with hesitation.

"He's close to us, but he's especially close to Scarlett," Mirja smiled and thought for a bit, "Let's just say that Erwin is like a father figure to her, alright? To us really. If you don't believe me, you can try to ask them yourself if you dare."

"Oí! Mirja, stop slacking!" Arnoldo warned.

"Yes sir!" Mirja did her signature dramatic salute, her hand at her forehead and swung it forward dramatically, "Sorry guys. Kinda busy here." She said as she turned to go encourage some soldiers.

"Captain? Where are you going?" Eld asked, watching the black haired male walk away.

"I thought you said you wanted to us to properly introduce ourselves to them?" Gunther asked.

"Tch," Oruo mimicked Levi, "Guess they're really not worth our time."

"You shush," Petra scolded hitting Oruo over the head, making him bite his tongue, "Can't you see that they're busy?"

Levi ignored his squad's comments as he walked towards the main building, which held the higher ups rooms and offices. It was going to hurt his pride, but he had to apologize to Scarlett nonetheless. What he said really was insensitive. Sure he wasn't a big fan of the red-haired female, but he really didn't mean to say that. He was just annoyed she had fallen on him. Besides... he also had to show her that he was the mature one out of the two. He walked to Erwin's office and knocked.

"Name and business," Erwin's deep voice answered.

"It's me," anyone could tell who this person was just by their voice, as he let himself in, "Is Margaux in here?"

Erwin was sitting on the couch that was in his room, using a small table on the side to do paperwork. Levi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion wondering why he wasn't doing his work on his desk, but then he saw her. He recognized that redish-brown hair immediately. She was asleep, basically laying down on the rest of the couch, her head using Erwin's lap as a pillow, her back to the blonde Commander. One of her hands under her face, while the other laid on one of Erwin's thighs. Her natural mean looking face was gone. Her face was relaxed, a small barely noticeable smile on her face. She looked quite peaceful.

"Is there something you needed Levi?" Erwin snapped Levi out of his thoughts, "As you can see, I am a bit busy."

"I wanted to apologize to Margaux," Levi crossed his arms, "But I guess I'll try later when she's awake."

"Look Levi. I know you may not like her very much, despite both of you barely knowing each other, alright? Just... try to take it easy with her. I'm not saying this because I'm protecting her, but I'm protecting you," Erwin looked at Levi dead in the eye, face serious, "You have no idea what she's capable of. Her or squad. You're not the only strong one here anymore," The blonde paused for a bit and gently moved some stray strands out of the girls face, making her mumble in her sleep, "I know you can feel her power. You're not oblivious. You never were. You two would actually make quite a team, if you learned how to get along." Erwin sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose a bit, "The comment you told her earlier isn't really what bothered her. Okay, it did bother her, a lot, that's why she slapped you. Although what really bothered her was the fact she was trying to be nice to you by thanking you for saving her from that fall, for you to only spit an insult in her face. Do you understand now?"

Levi looked at the blond man, listening, "......It's not my fault she's such a brat. Did she explain to you why she was even dangling in the first place? I know you said they're suppose to be some of our best soldiers ever, but I have yet to see that. They've been nothing but obnoxious idiots since I've met them, excluding the one named Arnoldo. He seems to be suffering from them just as much as I am. Are you sure he's not the actual leader of that squad?" All Erwin did was give him a look. "I can't even fathom how they're the Undercover Operations Squad then."

"Yes, they are the Undercover Operations Squad, the Margaux Squad technically speaking, but they were also known as Aliferous Squad and the Knavery Squad," Erwin reminded him, "Tell me Levi... Haven't you noticed our soldiers to be in a better mood? Remember how lost they were just before you left? They found hope again. They found it in them, the Margaux Squad. That is why I revealed them. They give our soldiers hope. While you may hate their childish ways with their pranks and personalities, that is what makes everyone around here happier, chipper if I may. They have been like this since they were trainees and I don't think they're going to stop now. Their childishness makes our soldiers believe you can still be just ever so slightly happy in this cruel we live in. Don't you get it?"

Levi glared at the ceiling taking everything in, "I understand, BUT do not expect me to not snap at her when she does stupid things involving me or my squad."

"Understandable," Erwin nodded, "But if you snap on her with no legit reason, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop her from beating your face in next time." A small chuckle left the blond man's lips.

"Tch," Levi rolled his eyes, "As if she really could."

"You'd be surprised," Erwin chuckled, "Just apologize to her whenever she wakes. Most likely tomorrow since she exhausted herself before I had found her. Just try not to kill each other all the time, alright? I don't expect you two to be best friends, but I do expect you two to be the two great Captains I know you two are."

"Understood," Levi turned to leave but stopped, one question lingering in his mind. He hesitated a bit but nonetheless asked, "Is it true? That she looks up to you as a father? And you look at her like a daughter?"

Erwin looked at the black haired male with shock written on his face, "How did you... did she tell you?" Levi nodded and Erwin sighed a bit but smiled, "Hm, I guess she trusts you just enough to tell you that at least. She hasn't even told the cadets or soldiers that, but it is true. She's like the daughter I never had." He looked down at Scarlett, pride flickering in his blue eyes, "I've watched her turn to the great soldier she is now, the woman she is now. Besides..." The blond looked at Levi, blue eyes showing sorrow, "I was actually good friends with her father, before I had met Scarlett here in training. Ah... don't tell her that last part. She doesn't know that yet."

"......Wait what do you mean was?" Levi questioned. "Do you mean-"

"He's dead," Erwin looked at his papers again, a hard grip on his quill, "I don't even know how he died, but her squad confirmed he did indeed die. When I tried to question them on how, they told me if they tried saying it, Scarlett would break down. I didn't want to see that nor do I want to see that now still so I chose to leave that subject alone."

"How did they confirm it?"

"They were there when it happened according to them. Their word is good enough for me. I trust them. Ever since that day, I could sense a bit of happiness disappear from her... so it pushed away any possible doubts."

"I see..." Levi hummed for a bit then nodded, "Have a good night Erwin. Don't you think she would be more comfortable on your bed?"

Erwin shook his head chuckling a bit, "Trust me, she enjoys sleeping like this. It's comforting to her," he continued to write down on a paper, "Good night to you too Levi."

And with that the black haired Captain left to his room. This Scarlett girl was indeed a bit intriguing, but she was also a pain in his ass. He would try to be at his best with her, if and only if she didn't pull anything dirty with him like a prank. He knew she couldn't change her personality, because he himself couldn't change his even when he wanted to, but he just didn't want to be victim to one of her or her squad's pranks again or possibly worse. Otherwise, next time he would get them back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always welcomed! Thank you to those who have been reading so far. You are greatly appreciated <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is a home?

"Shh, don't wake her up yet," a quiet voice spoke, "In order for this to work we have to be extra quiet~"

"I know, I'm just excited," another voice spoke, trying to muffle a small giggle.

Scarlett _was_ asleep on a couch with a pillow under her head and a warm soft blanket on top of her. She had been alone until she heard the two new voices. The voices had woken her up, but she had kept her eyes shut. The first voice sounded way too familiar, and she knew better than to let her guard down now. As soon as she felt the two presences close enough, she sat up quickly, holding a wrist in each hand. Mirja and Hanji's eyes widened, mouths agape. The red-haired female eyed them carefully, not appreciating the fact she was woken up like this. Her eyes darted to the hands she didn't have captive, seeing a small bucket of water in each hand, "What the fuck? I hope you didn't plan to throw that water on me especially when I'm on Erwin's couch, in Erwin's room. It's one thing to try to do that if I was in my room in my own bed, but this is completely different. Am I correct Mirja?"

The blonde female nodded quickly then ran out of the room being careful to not spill the water, but laughed to herself. She forgot just how protective Scarlett was of Erwin and his belongings. Hanji held her bucket with a small pout disappointed they couldn't complete their prank.

"Where's Erwin?" Scarlett asked getting up, stretching to wake her tired body.

"Woke up around thirty minutes ago. You didn't sleep in so don't worry~" Hanji hummed, "But he said he wanted to let you sleep in longer to rest. Then he told us to wake you up so you wouldn't miss your duties of today. He's up and about doing his usual work."

Scarlett nodded, taking a deep breath, "I'm going to go take a quick shower. Will you save me a spot at breakfast?"

"Of coarse! We'll save you some food too," Hanji grinned, and laughed a bit as the red-haired female pushed her out of Erwin's room followed by herself, and locked then closed the door.

"Alright I'll see you in a bit," Scarlett waved a bit heading to her own room.

 

* * *

 

"Your hair is even curlier when it's wet! Your hair is so intriguing I swear. Not as intriguing as Titans, but almost!" Hanji exclaimed, watching the red-haired female eat.

Scarlett only rolled her eyes laughing a bit, "Why thank you Hanji...... I think," she laughed again, and put her loose hair in a lazy ponytail so she could eat with no hair in the way, "How'd the training go last night guys?"

"It went well," Arnoldo notified, "They were a bit lazy at first but we knocked some sense into them."

"Most were quite determined, but from what we've seen, most haven't actually fought a Titan yet," Wolfram added, gulping down his coffee, "Not going to say they're cowards until I see them in action, but their hearts and minds are in the right direction."

"Good," Scarlett smiled, then looked over at the cafeteria doors that just got opened, and scowled a bit seeing who had walked in. It was Levi and his squad. She continued eating, deciding to just ignore his existence. The table she was at got quiet. Her squad was also not happy on the fact Levi had insulted their leader. Hanji and Mike were just curious if the tension was going to stay as it was, or if either was going to do something about it. 

There was quiet laughter at the table since Scarlett was scolding Mirja for her attempted prank in the morning, making Ken pat Mirja on the head affectionately. Mirja only smiled and shrugged. Then the table got quiet again as Levi headed their way. Wolfram looked at Scarlett and the female shook her head. Their way of communicating that she would take care of this. Levi stood near where Scarlett was sitting, arms crossed. The female only fixed her position, so she was sitting with her back to the table, drinking her tea, lazily looking at the male captain in front of her.

"I tried looking for you last night," Levi spoke first, face as stoic as ever.

"Well you found me now," Scarlett retorted then ate some toast, "What can I help you with?"

"You're such a brat I swear..." Levi mumbled but was clearly heard as amber eyes slowly glared at him, "I wanted to apologize for my comment yesterday. It was unnecessary and uncalled for," Immediately everyone, except the Margaux Squad, gasped in shock. Did **THE** Captain Levi actually just apologize to someone? Levi rolled his eyes and continued, "I was annoyed you had fallen on me was all. I'm sorry, alright?"

Scarlett stared at him, eyebrows furrowing a bit then face relaxed again just as a small smirk placed itself on her mouth, "Well, I can't really say no to your apology can I? Apology accepted, and I am sorry I fell on you but it's not like I really had a choice. I wasn't excepting to drop like that. Thanks again for that Ken," Ken only chuckled to himself lightly. Next thing she did was extend a hand to Levi, "And again, thank you for catching me even though it was a nuisance. I really was not feeling an aching back right now, or possibly a concussion with the way I was falling... but yeah thanks. Oh... and don't expect me to go easy on you next time you make me mad. I might just embarrass you in front of everyone."

"Hm... Yeah whatever you say," He extended his hand toward her, and the two captains shook hands, ending the tension.

"Well now that that's over, come join us and eat," Mirja grinned.

"Which reminds me," Levi turned to look at his squad that was sitting in their usual table, and he motioned them over, "We never formally introduced each other."

The other four picked of their trays of food and walked over.

"Yes Captain?" Petra asked.

"Introduce yourselves, but place your trays down first," Levi ordered, and his squad did as told. Everyone moved around to make room for the newcomers. The Margaux Squad sat on one side plus Hanji, as the Levi Squad sat on the other plus Mike. One by one, the Special Operations Squad introduced themselves to the Undercover Operations Squad, and vice versa. Everyone started eating again after they all shook hands.

"What's our plan for today?" Scarlett asked wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Ken as usual, took everyone's trays who were done eating and took them away. He came back not even a minute later, adjusting his hoodie and face mask.

"At noon we're training the soldiers again," Arnoldo informed, fixing his collar a bit, "Until then nothing."

"Oh! We're free too!" Hanji said referring to herself and Mike, "Mind if we train with you guys before noon?"

"I don't see why not," Arnoldo chuckled at the excited brunette, "Would you guys like to join us?" He asked looking at the squad in front of him.

The four members all looked at their black haired leader, making him click his tongue, "Fine, but if you guys pull a stupid stunt like you guys did last time, I'm beating the shit out of all of you."

"And I would gladly help him too," Arnoldo added, making Mirja and Scarlett stick out their tongues at him.

"It's not like we did that on purpose," Wolfram laughed, "Not going to say it's the first time it has happened but that was _years_ ago."

"Oh my god! That's true! It was when we were still cadets in training, but we were an unofficial squad then. That happened when Keith wanted all of us to go against each other right?" Mirja grinned, "Everyone including Arnoldo got all tangled up!"

The tall brown-haired male groaned remembering, "Don't remind me."

Scarlett gasped dramatically, and looked right at Mirja, "WAIT! Isn't that the reason why Keith made us run a whole day and night?"

"Yes!" Mirja laughed, "He was so annoyed on the fact that he and Erwin had to free us, he punished us to a day of laps. Oh! That's when..." The usually happy glimmer in the female's eyes disappeared, and looked at her squad, "H _e_ suggested the idea we prank Keith and that's what got us laps for three days..."

Immediately Wolfram, Arnoldo, and Scarlett knew who she was referring to, the three looking down a bit. Ken knew as well, even though he didn't actually know said person. Ken rubbed Mirja's back gently, making the girl smile again.

"Yeah... Those were good times," Wolfram spoke up again hands behind his head, a grin on his face.

"Yeah except the laps," Arnoldo added.

Everyone else at the table was confused. Who were they referring to? They had to be important since the Margaux Squad got quiet, and the leader of them had not spoken yet. In fact, she was glaring down at her clenched fists. She opened her clenched fists, and one hand rose to a necklace around her neck, lightly touching it. _Was she always wearing that?_ It had four black rings on the silver chain. Seeing the rings made everyone notice that the five members of the Margaux Squad all wore an identical black ring on the middle finger of their right hand. The red-haired captain's face went from glaring at her hands, to a complete look of hurt. They saw something they hadn't seen in the female captains eyes before: sorrow. She bit her lip a bit, focusing on calming herself down.

"What the fuck is wrong with your face?" Levi asked with a small sneer in hopes of breaking the awkward tension in the air, but failed. Scarlett didn't hear him or ignored him, and even her squad didn't react to his comment.

Hanji noticing the girl in unwanted memories spoke softly, gently holding one of Scarlett's hands in her own, "We should start our training now, eh? I really want to see what makes you guys so elite."

Amber eyes stared blankly at Hanji's brown eyes for a bit, until Scarlett's face broke out into a smile, "Yes of course. If everyone is finished we can go now." The table nodded in response, and they all headed out to the training grounds. Scarlett was walking out with her squad but she had stopped Hanji, and gave her a small smile, "Thank you... for that."

Hanji grinned and nodded, "Of course. I don't know what made you all down all of a sudden, especially you, but I could tell you didn't want to remember it. It's what friends do for each other right?"

"Right," Scarlett chuckled and followed the excited Titan enthusiast out.

 

* * *

 

It was now dinner time, and everyone was enjoying a home-made cooked dinner made by Arnoldo himself. Arnoldo had been itching to get in the kitchen again, and was glad to finally being able to treat the Survey Corps soldier to a delicious dinner. Erwin sat with the two elite squads, sitting in between Scarlett and Mike. 

Levi was actually surprised, though his face didn't show it. During their training in the morning, him and his squad were able to see what made the Margaux Squad so elite. He was impressed, but he would never say that to their faces, especially Scarlett.

"How in the world is this food so good?!" Gunther exclaimed, stuffing food into his mouth.

"It's either made with something special, or we were just starving," Eld adds happily eating.

"Captain, what do you think of the food?" Petra asked with a small smile.

"It's definitely not bad," Levi answered. He was being truthful. Arnoldo definitely had some serious cooking skills, "Are you a chef or something?"

"Hm? No, I'm a Survey Corps soldier if you didn't notice," Arnoldo answered sarcastically, "I just always enjoyed cooking."

"Tch, I've had better," Orou mocked a bit, again trying to imitate his Captain. This only earned him an elbow on his side, "Okay, okay, sheesh. It is pretty good."

"You haven't lost your touch at all Arnoldo," Erwin chuckled, "I take it the cadets enjoyed your food a lot?"

"That's an understatement," Wolfram laughed, "What's that girl's name? Sasha?" Scarlett nodded, "She had five bowls of the pasta Arnoldo made and she wanted more but Scar had to stop her otherwise no one else would be able to get some extras. That girl had a bottomless stomach."

"She's quite funny too. I heard they call her Potato-Girl for eating a potato in front of Keith on the first day of training," Mirja giggled.

"Are you serious?!" Wolfram exclaimed and burst out in his booming laughter, "No wonder she was forced to do laps then. Oh my god! I would've loved to see that."

The table was filled with laughter and chatter, just like the rest of the cafeteria. Erwin looked around a bit, and smiled a bit knowing that the spirits of his soldiers were lifted. He looked towards the Margaux Squad and smiled. They all sensed someone staring at them, and when they saw it was Erwin, they all smiled. Well for Ken, Erwin could see the smile in his eyes like usual. 

After a while, Scarlett had finished eating so she had excused herself, after thanking Arnoldo for the food and wishing everyone else a good night. She was feeling sick, homesick that is. Remembering _him_ earlier had triggered said homesickness. It wasn't just him, but it was _them_. Her stomach felt empty even though she had just ate to her stomach's content, and her heart felt heavy. As soon as she stepped out into the cool night air, she stood there a bit enjoying the small breeze. She thought for a bit until she opened her eyes, and stared at the sky amazed like always. _It's beautiful as usual_ , she thought. She took a deep breath and let her feet and heart lead her elsewhere. By the time she actually paid attention and noticed her surroundings, she was in a open field with some random flowers here and there. The woods was a good distance to the right, and the HQ was somewhere behind her. She smiled and sat down, leaning back on her arms, watching the stars. _They're so beautiful... so free... able to be wherever in this giant unexplored world... I'm envious._

She spent a good thirty minutes just staring at the stars, depicting constellations she had learned about until she decided to lay down. She took off her Corps jacket and folded it nicely to use as a pillow. She relaxed onto the ground, eyes observing the night sky, until she closed her eyes in thought. She remembered how times were much easier before the Fall of Wall Maria. How life was much easier before she had decided to join the military. She missed it, but she never regretted joining the Survey Corps. Yes, she missed her home, but being out in the nature looking at the stars always made her feel at home. All she needed was a cup of freshly-made hot chocolate and it would be like she was right outside her house on a breezy autumn day.

"Home..." She muttered under her breath. This place was also her home. Her squad was her home. Erwin and Keith were her home. She reminded herself she had a new home, but she just couldn't help and think back to her original home. She was thankful she was still alive, and that she had people that were practically her family. Correction: they **ARE** her family. She smiled to herself chuckling about her members. What idiots most of them were. How did Arnoldo and Ken deal with them? Scarlett was mature sure, but Arnoldo and Ken were the calm ones out of the five, and she wondered how the two didn't get sick of the other three's devious ways.

She opened her eyes again to the sparkling night sky. She missed being on the other side of these walls. It's been a while and though it sounded bad, her hands were itching for some Titan blood. She enjoyed killing those giant monsters, and she enjoyed being on the land that used to belong to them, the humans. She closed her eyes again, her forearm covering her eyes. _Soon_ , she thought. Her squad and her would be out there again soon. She didn't know how but she knew they would.

Lost in her own thoughts, and blinded by her own arm, she sat up quickly when a cold voice was directed at her, "What the hell are you doing out here all alone at this time?"

Amber eyes searched around quickly, daggers now in her hands (that she kept hidden in her boots), until she met cold gray eyes. She relaxed seeing it was only the male captain. She stored her daggers away, and laid back down, "I'm watching the stars."

"Why?" He crossed his arms, not amused by her answer or the fact she was doing what she said.

"Because I like it," She growled slightly then groaned a bit, "It makes me feel free. It reminds me how big the world is and what we have yet to explore. It reminds me that I will explore it no matter what it takes..." she spoke quietly, "And it reminds me of home..."

Levi raised an eyebrow, listening then hesitantly sat down on the ground only after using his jacket as a barrier between him and the filthy ground. He leaned back on his arms, looking up at the sky. Why was she so entertained by the sky? It only gets boring and the same after a while, but by the way she talked, that wasn't the case for her. Minutes went by in a comfortable silence since neither really wanted to talk. Even Levi didn't feel like picking a fight with the female captain. After a while, the ravenette got bored.

"What a waste of time..." he muttered under his breath and looked to the side, raising an eyebrow a bit in amusement. Scarlett had fallen asleep, her head slightly tilted to his direction, a serene look on her face. He scoffed a bit, but decided to not wake her since he knew it would start an argument and he was not feeling that this time at night, "What a brat. She'll catch a cold out here." Nonetheless, he didn't wake her. He watched her a bit, her eyebrows furrowing a bit in her sleep followed by some incoherent words. He chuckled ever so quietly when he heard the words 'you idiot'. He guessed she was dreaming already. Noticing he was still looking at her face, he quickly looked away, but her necklace caught his eye. What was so important with that necklace? What did it mean? As he was observing the simple black rings, another thing caught his eye. It was a scar. It started in the middle of her neck, and went down to her right collarbone, then down in between her...bosom. He was only able to see it went down her bosom because the fact she wore a similar shirt as him, but in black with the top buttons undone. He quickly looked away with a small scoff. He didn't mean to look there, but he was curious... how did she get that scar?

After trying to come up with 'hows' he laid down, intertwining his hands together and using them as a small support for his head. He stared up at the sky, not really thinking on anything anymore, until eventually his eyes shut on their own, and he drifted off into sleep.

 

* * *

 

Scarlett woke with some light sun rays hitting her face. She hummed a bit, not wanting to wake up. She was very warm  and didn't feel like getting up. She assumed it was time to get up though because it felt like it was around six in the morning. She snuggled a bit to what she thought was a pillow, but she was wrong. It was warm, and it when she rested her hands on the 'pillow', what she touched was hard and firm. She opened her eyes immediately and her eyes met a white shirt covered chest. _Shit... this can't be happening to me,_ she thought. Her amber eyes slowly trailed up and she saw exactly what she hoped it wasn't. It was Levi. **Fuck**. 

She went to get up, but an arm around her prevented her from doing so. She tried to pull away again, but he pulled her in closer. _What the hell is he doing?_ She knew that if he wasn't awake, this wouldn't even happening, but even then what the hell? She growled under her breath, before taking a deep breath and exhaled. _I got this... I'm an expert in escaping tight situations._ Then she did as said. Scarlett expertly but slowly slipped out his arm, and ran away after picking up her jacket. As soon as she got to her room, she ran to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Before she stepped in the shower, she saw her reflection in the mirror. There was a slight tinge of red on her cheeks. Was she blushing? It wasn't like Levi or her even knew what they were doing. They were probably just cold during the night. Yeah that was it. That was definitely it. She got in the shower, and let the warm water drown her thoughts out.

Back outside, Levi started waking up as soon as he felt cold. One minute he was cozy and warm, and then it just disappeared. He groaned and turned to the side a bit, only to recieve a face full of grass. _What the fuck_? He sat up, rubbing the sleep off his eyes, and saw he was outside. He scowled immediately noticing he fell asleep outside. He didn't remember falling asleep outside, so he just figured he went for a walk after not being able to fall asleep in his room. Then another thought came into his mind. Why was Scarlett on his mind? He didn't think too much of it and figured he had talked to her before falling asleep.

His steel eyes scanned the area next to him, feeling like something was missing, but he couldn't pin point what. 

"How filthy," He scoffed to himself seeing some dirt and grass stuck to his body. He got up and went to his room to clean up, and got ready for whatever him and his squad were doing. _Hm, maybe I can finally spar Scarlett today and teach her a lesson._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of a filler chapter, but here you go! I apologize for the slow pace of the story right now, but when shit starts happening, more shit will happen (haha). Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little Captain vs. Captain challenge.

After drying her hair and styling it in two nicely-done French braids, Scarlett headed to the cafeteria since her stomach was growling from hunger. As soon as she walked in the cafeteria, her squad motioned her over causing her to smile.

"Fell asleep outside again I presume?" Arnoldo asked handing her a tray of food.

"What gave it away?" She joked, sitting down between him and Wolfram like usual, making both males laugh.

"Oh Scar!" Mirja grinned making amber eyes look at her, "Guess what? We get to be with the cadets again today. Test their skills out more and y'know maybe bully them as well~"

A small laugh left the female captain's lips before drinking some tea, "Well that sounds like fun. Anything else?" Arnoldo only nodded sending a knowing look to everyone else in the Margaux Squad. _It's finally time for an Undercover assignment_. "Understood."

"Question: it's normal for Scar to fall asleep outside?" Hanji asked curiously, getting nods from the other five, "Don't you get cold? What if it rains when you're asleep? Or attacked?"

"Like someone would actually be able to attack her," Wolfram laughed, "She senses presences just in time or she'll still have them at her feet before they even attack."

"If it rains, one of us usually go and get her out," Ken informed, "Her body somehow knows it's us so she won't attack us."

"Oh???" Hanji's eyes sparkled, "You guys are all very interesting y'know?"

"So we've been told," Arnoldo chuckled.

After a few minutes, Levi walked in and immediately walked to where his squad was after getting some breakfast. As he walked by the Margaux Squad, they said good morning to him including Scarlett. She did indeed feel a bit weird on how they woke up this morning, but again she wouldn't dwell on it. They were both asleep at the time, and she bet the oh so famous Captain wouldn't even remember or know. Otherwise she would have received some rude comments from said male already. 

"Oh! Be safe, okay? And good luck," Hanji followed the squad up, "You probably don't need it, but still," she grinned, "Ugh, it's going to be so quiet without you guys here."

Mirja chuckled, "We'll be back Hanji! Don't do anything to crazy while I'm gone, okay? I wouldn't want to miss it."

Hanji nodded happily and waved bye to the Margaux Squad leaving the cafeteria and the HQ. As they left, Levi couldn't help but look at the red-haired female's back. He felt as if she was the thing that was missing in the morning. _Was I talking to her last night... or was that all in my head?_ He remembered seeing the black rings in the necklace around her neck, and he remembered seeing a scar.

"I must've noticed that when we were at dinner last night..." Levi muttered to himself, growling a bit at his foggy memory of the night before. He also wanted to know why the hell he had fallen asleep outside of all places.

 

* * *

 

_Three Days Later_

"We'll go report to Erwin and everything as needed after we clean up," Scarlett ordered, "I'm sure he won't mind."

"Yes ma'am," Arnoldo answered, combing his messy hair with his fingers.

The Margaux Squad just returned from their Undercover assignment and they were _exhausted_. It had been two days and nights since they had left. It was now the third day and they returned in the morning. Everyone was most likely awake by now, probably eating breakfast in the cafeteria. The squad looked physically disheveled, but their minds were not. After all, their assignment was a success. As they headed towards the main building where their bedrooms were at, they walked by some soldiers who stared at them in awe. The soldiers could tell that they had just come back from an assignment. Their slightly tattered and blood-stained clothes proved that. That blood wasn't disappearing so the soldiers figured it was their own blood from a small injury, but little did they know that it was another Human's blood.

Yes, the first night they were doing an undercover assignment, but the second night, Erwin had given them permission to take care of some deadly criminals lurking in the walls (according to Arnoldo's report). The soldiers who saw them, quickly went into the cafeteria probably to talk about what they saw. They were most likely going to inform the others on the squad's return. After cleaning themselves up, they reported to Erwin and Hanji, since the undercover assignment was to help the female scientist out.

"And how did the other thing go?" Erwin asked looking at Scarlett.

"Perfectly fine," she yawned a bit, "Little fuckers thought they could escape but nope." She stood while stretching a bit, "Mind if we go eat? We're kinda starving."

Erwin nodded, and just as the Margaux Squad and Hanji were leaving, Scarlett stayed behind making the blonde Commander raise an eyebrow.

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Just peachy," she chuckled, "I have a gift for you."

"Oh?" Erwin leaned back in his chair, watching Scarlett who revealed a small black box, "You know you don't have to do such things." The female only smiled and handed him the box after walking around his desk. When he opened it, inside the box was a simple black ring. He stared at it a bit then looked at Scarlett, "What... What is this for? Isn't this ring that symbolizes your squad only?"

The female shook her head and smiled, "Wrong. It symbolizes my family... our family. I've had it for a while now, but I don't know why I hadn't given it to you or Keith yet. Guess I procrastinated, but..." Her cheeks were slightly red, "I want you to take it... Erwin you know you're like a father to me. I wanted you to have this before it was too late... you know?"

The blonde Commander looked at the ring, then at the red-haired female in front of him. She was actually flustered. She cared so much for friends and squad, also known as her family, but sometimes she just didn't know how to express it. He let out a hearty laugh and pulled the female down onto his lap making her eyes widen. He wrapped his arms around her, making her blush worsen, but that didn't stop her from happily snuggling into his broad chest. Erwin was her family. It was her home. She was snapped out of her thoughts as Erwin spoke quietly, "I'll wear it with pride. There's never a time I regretted taking you under my wing... You hear me? I live with pride knowing how strong of a woman you are now. How far you and your squad have gone. It's a great honor to be thought of as family by you all." His gentle words, slowly made her amber eyes tear up. This was something he wasn't used to seeing. He cupped her face with one hand, as his other softly wiped her tears away, "Don't cry... You're happy aren't you?"

She laughed while nodding, some loose tears falling down her cheeks, "Yes of course..." He chuckled and hugged her head to his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head, "Erwin... thank you... for everything..." he only rubbed her back gently in response making her smile, "I love you..." she smiled and slowly smirked a bit, " _papa_ ~."

Erwin's cheeks immediately flushed as he flicked the female on her forehead then pinched her cheek, "Oi, you know how embarrassing that is to me."

"Ow ow ow, okay okay sorry," she laughed pulling his hand away, "So mean."

The blonde rolled his blue eyes, "I love you too _Lettie._ " He laughed when her eyes widened in embarrassment at the old nickname, "I had to get back at you," he chuckled as he placed the black ring on his middle finger on his right hand.

"Yeah yeah," Scarlett smiled then jumped when someone cleared their throat near the door.

"Am I interrupting something?" Levi was leaning on the door frame, arms crossed. The door never got closed so anyone could have seen and heard what the two were talking about. _Why did it have to be Levi? Why couldn't it be Hanji?_

Scarlett quickly got up, "No you were not," then she remembered something, "Oh! Don't leave his office yet," she ran out the office leaving both males confused.

"What was that all about? I've never seen either of you with so much emotion. And Lettie?" Levi asked in his usual cold voice.

Erwin only shrugged and started some paperwork on the Margaux Squad's undercover assignment, "I did say we were close. Lettie is a nickname I've called her when she was trainee. Keith called her Carl and I called her Lettie."

As soon as he finished talking Scarlett walked in the open office and she walked right in front of Levi, "I got you something while we were away," she pushed the medium-sized box towards the male captain, "And I'm not taking no for an answer so just open it."

"Fucking brat I swear," he growled under his breath but placed the box on Erwin's desk and opened it nonetheless. Inside was a set of four black teacups with a white ring on the edge, and a box of delightful smelling tea. He faltered for a bit, and looked at the female, "What's this for? I thought we weren't friends?"

"I never said that," Scarlett laughed, "We have more a 'frenemy' thing going on. Besides we got gifts for all our friends. We even got some small gifts for the cadets in training. I wasn't sure if I should've got you cleaning supplies or tea but I settled on tea. Like it?"

"Yes actually... Thank you," Levi nodded a bit in appreciation.

"Mhm~" Scarlett grinned then her face flushed as her stomach growled loudly in hunger, "Uh... I'm gonna go eat now. Bye now!" She ran away, slightly embarrassed, but laughed, "Wow... I really am hungry."

"She's something else huh?" Levi asked looking at Erwin.

"Yes she is..." Erwin replied looking at the new ring on his hand, before continuing to do his paperwork.

Of course Levi didn't fail to see the ring on his finger. He had only arrived and watched the scene when Scarlett explained that the rings symbolized her family. _So does that mean the rings on her necklace are of her other squad members? Or maybe they belonged to her actual blood family. Either way... Why were they on her necklace?_

 

* * *

 

It was around three in the afternoon now, and Scarlett was bored. Erwin had given everyone a free day, and so far the Margaux Squad had spent it with Mike and Hanji. As Hanji was going on another speech about Titans, Scarlett had about enough. She wanted to do something. Something that didn't involve talking about Titans. When Hanji was telling a over exaggerated story, Scarlett sneaked away, of course being spotted by Ken. Ken only nodded a bit. His way of saying that he would let the others know that she went to do something else. Scarlett roamed around the HQ a bit not really knowing what to do.

"Hm... Maybe I can go mess with Erwin," Scarlett thought out loud, "Or maybe I can head over to the cadets and mess with them. Hm... decisions decisions." She was tapping her chin in thought, but stopped in her tracks when she almost crashed into a tall blonde's back. She immediately recognized the hair as Eld's.

Eld feeling someone was behind him, turned his head to see who it was, then immediately turned around and saluted seeing who it was, "Oh Captain Margaux! I'm sorry, am I in your way?" Gunther, Petra, and Orou who were around Eld followed suit. Levi who was to the side scoffed a bit.

Scarlett looked at the four people in front of her, only blinking a bit, "Uh no... I thought I told you guys not to call me Captain? I hate formalities."

"O-oh we're just so used to it since that's what we call our Captain," Petra informed playing with her hands.

"Well that's to Ackerman not me," Scarlett grinned, "You can call me Scarlett or Scar, understood?" The three nodded.

"Where were you heading?" Gunther asked.

"I'm not sure," The female captain shrugged, "My squad and I were with Hanji but as you can see I got tired of her Titan speeches and I left. I'm bored. I'm lonely," she dramatically put a hand on her heart making the others chuckle, "Do any of you know where Erwin is?"

"I believe he had to go into town to do something, right Captain?" Petra looked at Levi.

"Yeah," Levi crossed his arms, "You wouldn't be lonely if you didn't leave your squad. Find something to do and stop wasting your time. Go train because lord knows you need it."

"Excuse me?" Scarlett's eye twitched, "Are you trying to say I'm not skilled enough?"

"Possibly," Levi retorted, "You haven't beat me in a fight yet."

The other four members stepped to the side sensing the captain's rising tension. They whispered to themselves a bit watching the scene in front of them.

"I swear to god I want to beat your pretty little face in," Scarlett growled running a hand through her loose hair.

"Oh? So you think my face is pretty?" Levi's eyebrow rose in amusement, questioning in a teasing tone.

The female captain groaned and walked right to Levi, looking down at him just a bit since she was taller by three inches, "Look here you little shit. I can take you down. Don't underestimate me."

"You have yet to impress me Margaux," Levi stepped back a step, glaring up at the female in front of him.

"It is so fucking on," Scarlett growled, "Person who gets the most Titan dummy kills win."

"Winner get bragging rights," Levi added.

"Deal," Scarlett agreed and pointed at Eld and Gunther, "Eld you'll be behind me to double check and count my kills while Gunther does the same with Ackerman. Meet back here in ten minutes with your gear on. Prepare to lose, _Captain_."

The way that word was said alone made the hair behind Levi's neck stand up. She was teasing him and he wouldn't have it. He would win.

After exactly ten minutes, both captains plus Eld and Gunther were ready with their gear on. There was also now a crowd which including Scarlett's squad thanks to Oruo's big mouth. Petra had already informed everyone of what was going on.

"Cocky little bastard," Wolfram spat but laughed, "He doesn't know what he's getting himself into."

"Agreed," Arnoldo shook his head.

"Who knows~" Mirja sang, "Maybe Levi can actually beat her. Wouldn't that be kind awesome?"

Ken nodded his head in agreement. Meanwhile the two captain's weren't really paying attention to the others. They were too busy glaring at each other.

"Okay, the flare I shoot is the signal to go!" Hanji exclaimed standing in between the two captains, "Are you ready? Get set......Go!" A white flare shot up and the two captains ran, shooting out their wires, as they merged into the woods. Gunther and Eld were a bit taken back at how fast their captains disappeared, but quickly followed nonetheless. Everyone was able to watch what happened since Hanji made the coarse so they battled on the outermost parts of the woods not deep inside. Cheers erupted from the other soldiers, excited to see the captains battling for pride. Both were great soldiers so either could win, but who?

After thirty minutes, almost all the Titan dummies were gone. The two captains were near the finish line with Eld and Gunther tiredly behind them. Eld had a count of thirty dummies while Gunther had a count of twenty five. Levi knew he was losing, so he had to do something drastic. He watched as the female in front of him quickly darted from tree to tree. He also noticed how a lot of times, she didn't even use the gear. She literally jumped from branch to branch with the force of her legs to save gas he assumed. He had to admit, that was impressive. When his eyes darted up, he saw her hair in a messy bun, some strands flailing away. A small smirk found its way on his face, as he quickly caught up to the female.

Scarlett eyed him a bit, pursing her lips a bit, but ignored him. She had to keep going. She couldn't lose. Just as she got ready to shoot her wires out, she felt a small tug on her head then she was blinded by redish-brown hair. **Her** hair. She panicked a bit, her hair flailing furiously, and tried to stop her movements so she wouldn't crash into a tree. She shot her wires out, and luckily landed on a branch.

Eld quickly followed her, "Are you alright Cap- Scarlett?" He checked her over to see if she wasn't injured.

Scarlett's eyes darted up and spotted Levi, who looked back at her, a small smirk on his face. In his hand he held the elastic piece that was holding her hair up. Her eye twitched, and she quickly wrapped another elastic around her hair. Thank god she wore some on her wrist.

"That fucker is going to pay. Let's go Eld," She hissed as she quickly shoot her wires towards where Levi and Gunther were heading.

It was too late. By the time she caught up, the remaining five Titan dummies had already been slashed by Levi. The four shot out of the forest, and landed in between a small circle the crowd had formed. Levi stood in the middle with a barely noticeable small smirk, crossing his arms. Scarlett glared at him, biting her lip, holding back very inappropriate words.

"Okay! What's the score?!" Hanji asked excitedly.

"Thirty," Both Eld and Gunther replied at the same time, making everyone's eyes go wide.

"Wait what?! Are you serious?!" Mirja ran forward and the two males nodded, "Oh my god! They tied!"

"I was sure Scarlett was ahead. What the hell happened?" Wolfram asked.

"Short-Stuff here played fucking dirty. He let my hair loose. While I was blinded and tried to get my hair back in order, he took the remaining ones out and tied," Scarlett's voice snarled, "You're a piece of shit you know that?"

"Tch, if you can't win even in those circumstances then you must not be good enough," Levi retorted, and flung her elastic back at her.

"And you must not be good enough if you had to resort to playing dirty," Scarlett spat out, "I swear to god I'm going to smash your face in." She jabbed a finger to his chest.

This only caused the latter to smirk more ever so slightly, "You mean the face you called pretty?"

The crowd got silent then 'ooo' with the male's comeback. Arnoldo's eyes went wide, where Ken only raised an eyebrow. Mirja giggled a bit knowing Scarlett probably did say that to his face, and now Levi was using it against her. Wolfram only watched in amazement. No one other than the squad itself was able to match Scarlett in comebacks. Maybe this guy wasn't as bad as he thought.

"It's not going to be pretty when I'm done with you," Scarlett quietly threatened, as his collar was now in her hands, "Fight me. I fucking challenge you to a fight."

Levi only moved her hands away, and fixed his collar, "Prove yourself to me first. If you can defeat all my squad members, I'll fight you."

"W-Wait what?!" His squad exclaimed. They didn't want to fight her. They had already witnessed her take down Mike and Wolfram with ease and they were honestly not feeling a beating right now.

"Fine," Scarlett calmed a bit, content with finally getting a chance to fight him.

Wolfram patted Oruo and Eld on the back, "Good luck man. You'll need it." He couldn't help, but release a laugh.

Arnoldo rolled his eyes, "Scarlett, please go easy on them. Remember who you're aiming to defeat."

"Yeah yeah," Scarlett rolled her neck making it crack a bit. Then she undid her hair again, and pulled it into a tight high ponytail. Her eyes scanned the four nervous members, "You two," she pointed at Petra and Oruo, "Fight me first at the same time so it's fair."

"S-Sure!" Petra stepped up and got in a fighting stand.

"This should be easy," Oruo got in a fighting stand as well with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Ready?" Scarlett questioned and they both nodded. She cracked her fingers smiling a bit, then got in the same stance she used when fighting Annie, "Bring it on."

As soon as those words left her lips, the two charges towards her simultaneously. The female captain easily dodged Petra's fist, then stepped to the side avoiding a kick by Oruo. The two kept throwing kicks and punches to only be dodged by the female captain. She wasn't even trying to hit them! They growled a bit in frustration until they looked at each other and nodded. At the same time, they aimed to kick her away, but Scarlett was too fast. She jumped and did a small flip, landing right behind them. She kicked Oruo hard on the side, making him fall into Petra then onto the floor. The two were sprawled out on the ground. Groans were heard as the red-haired female calmly walked over.

"Just give up," she advised, "I'm not trying to fight you so this is as easy as I can go."

"W-We're done..." Oruo sat up holding his side, "That kick was you going easy?!"

She only nodded then looked right at Gunther and Eld, "Next."

Both males gulped. They looked at each other then nodded and quickly charged towards the female captain. Scarlett jumped back a bit in surprise. _Hm, maybe this one will be more of a challenge._ She barely dodged a fist that she didn't see coming from the side. That was Eld. She kicked him in the stomach, making him stumble back. Just as she got ready to knock him down, Gunther kicked her right behind the knees making her fall on her knees.

"Oh they're good," Wolfram watched with a hand on his chin then chuckled, "But now they're just showing her that she shouldn't go easy on them. Bad mistake."

Scarlett quickly threw herself to the side avoiding another kick by Gunther, and got up dusting herself off, "Well then. You guys are definitely something." She laughed a bit then charged right towards the two males. Just as the two prepared for a tackle, the female only stopped right dead in front of them. Scarlett laughed a bit, "Again guys: I'm sorry, but I'm not trying to fight you."

"Wait what do you-" Gunther didn't get to finish as one one Scarlett's hand was on his head, and the other was on Eld's. Though they were taller than the female captain, she held onto their heads and made their heads bump into each other making both males grunt in pain. Then she gave each a kick to their abdomen, the two males now holding their head and stomach in pain.

"You're next Ackerman," Scarlett hummed looking right at him, "Be lucky I went easy on your members."

Levi only rolled his eyes, "How do I know that that wasn't your full strength?"

"Bite me Ackerman," she growled motioning towards her tauntingly.

Levi did make a deal with her, and he was finally going to put her down in her place. Or at least that's what he thought.

"Captain Margaux!" A soldier pushed through the people in the crowd, and finally found Scarlett in the middle. His eyes widened seeing members of the Special Operations Squad on the floor, with a proud Scarlett standing near them, "Commander Smith is asking for you."

"Damn it," She slowly relaxed shifting her weight onto one leg, a hand on her hip, "A reason?"

"I'm not sure," he was speaking the truth, "But he asked if you could see him as soon as you were available."

Scarlett groaned in annoyance, "Man... You just keep getting lucky Ackerman," she pouted a bit disappointed she wasn't going to fight him, again, "Alright is he in his office?"

"Yes ma'am," the soldier nodded.

"Thank you soldier," Scarlett patted the man's shoulder, "Friendly reminder to all you soldiers: cut the formalities with me alright? We're not on the battlefield nor in a official meeting. In those two situations, I won't mind the titles, but out here, don't use them. I'm your friend alright?" She received 'yes' and other variations of that sort to her speech, "Good. Now then, carry on," she looked at her squad, "I'll see you in a bit."

They nodded and Arnoldo spoke up, "I'm in charge?"

"Mhm. Oh wait! I want you guys to spar them," She referred to Petra, Oruo, Eld and Gunther, "Show them a few moves. They're skill is not bad, but they need some kinks worked out. Understood?"

"Got it," Arnoldo nodded.

"Good," Scarlett smiled and walked off, completely forgetting about Levi. 

Levi watched the female captain leave, crossing his arms. In all honesty, he was looking forward to finally fight her, but he guessed that would have to wait...again. He closed his eyes and thought to himself. She had actually been pretty pissed at him, or was it annoyed? Either way she went from wanting to smash his face in to giving nice advice to the soldiers, and then left smiling. _What a strange girl_ , he thought. He turned around to see the rest of the Margaux Squad already helping the rest of his squad. He knew his squad was skilled, so them getting beaten like it was nothing didn't annoy him. In fact in showed how skilled Scarlett actually was.

"To think the brat went easy on them too..." He mumbled under his breath, then watched as Wolfram was trying to teach Petra how to knock down a person bigger than herself.

Elsewhere, Scarlett had let herself in Erwin's office and sat down on the chair in front of his desk. The blonde didn't bother to look up as wrote something, "I heard you and Levi were having a small competition," Erwin said calmly, putting down his quill, and resting his chin on his intertwined hands.

"You could call it that. He basically cheated though," Scarlett pouted crossing her arms, "And I still haven't had a chance to fight him yet!"

Erwin only chuckled amused, "I'm sure you'll get another chance."

"Yeah I guess," Scarlett shrugged, freeing her hair from the ponytail it was in, "Why'd you call me here anyway?"

"Had to make sure you weren't injuring all my soldiers," Erwin looked at her with a small semi-cocky smile.

"Please. You know that if I can tell they're not to my level, I don't go full out on them. For example, I can tell that Levi's squad is actually quite skilled in fighting hand to hand, but it still wasn't enough to go against me. Against anyone else, they would have easily won. Anyway, it's a good thing you called me over. I have a request." Erwin motioned for her to continue, "Can my squad and I stay with the cadets for a week or so? I want us to spend more time with them to kinda push them into coming into the Corps... know what I mean? To kind of... persuade them. Plus if that doesn't work, at least they'll be trained well for whatever branch they decide to go into."

"I see..." Erwin closed his eyes and nodded, "Alright. That will be your assignment for the week then. If anything comes up, I'll send the hawk," Scarlett nodded, "You will be there starting tomorrow, Tuesday to next Tuesday. How does that sound?"

"Yes sir~", Scarlett chuckled and grinned seeing the black ring on his right hand, "I'll go tell my squad. Was that all you needed?" The blonde Commander nodded sending her a smile, "Cool. Have a good night Erwin."

She walked out his office, with her hands in her pockets, humming an old tune. A smile subconsciously formed on her mouth thinking back to when she first heard said tune. _Training the cadets for a straight week huh? This should be definitely be interesting._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story won't be hitting the actual story line of AOT quite yet still. I am putting a little spin on things for the sake of my story. Hope you guys won't mind too much ;w;


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scarlett gets injured.

__"Jaeger! What did I tell you about sprinting off like that?!" Scarlett scolded, making said boy slow down, "This exercise is to increase you stamina not your speed."

"S-Sorry Scar," his green eyes darted around, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"Just follow Mikasa and Armin ok? As long as you run along with them, you know you'll be pacing yourself. I know you can do it Jaeger. Don't disappoint me~," Scarlett advised making the boy nod and do as told.

"I can say one thing for sure," Wolfram spoke up crossing his arms, "Eren, Mikasa, and most likely Armin will join the Corps."

Mirja nodded smiling, "Well three is better than none right?"

"Of course, but the Corps need more soldiers," Arnoldo sighed, "But of course we can't force them to do something they don't want."

Ken watched the cadets run around finally in a steady pace. He smiled a bit under his mask. These cadets weren't bad, and he knew his squad would happily take them all under their wing if they joined the Corps, but even he knew most would go to the Garrison Regiment.

"Alright guys!" Wolfram's voice boomed over like usual, "Break time! Thirty minutes starting now!"

"I can't feel my feet anymore," Connie whined, sitting on the ground.

"I'm starving!" Sasha cried falling back onto the ground.

"Ha, you guys are clearly not fit to be in the military," Jean teased standing proud, but he himself was panting.

"Shut up horse-face," Eren spat, "Look who's talking. You're all out of breath. I thought horses were good with running?"

"You little..." Jean growled grabbing Eren's collar in annoyance, "I told you to stop calling me that you suicidal bastard!"

"G-guys I don't think this is the time right now," Marco informed trying to stop his two friends.

"Marco's right Eren. Do you want us to get punished because of you guys?" Armin asked referring to the Margaux Squad.

The Margaux Squad only watched in amusement.

"Did he just call him horse-face...?" Scarlett asked, her face deadpanned.

"Yup." Mirja answered popping the letter 'p'.

"Suicidal bastard...?" Wolfram asked, a hand combing through his hair.

"Mhm," Ken hummed, only watching the scene unfold.

"What the hell..." Arnoldo mumbled rubbing his temples.

Mikasa easily pushed Jean away and protectively put Eren behind her, then turned to look at Scarlett, "I apologize for them. They can get a little... rowdy at times."

The squad only looked at each other, and after a few seconds, four out of the five members burst out in laughter. Ken only chuckled quietly, shaking his head in amusement.

"Horse-face?! How the hell do you even get a nickname like that?!" Scarlett laughed hard, a hand holding her stomach, "I mean yeah sure, Jean has a longer looking face but horse-face?!" Jean's face flushed in embarrassment, seeing the female captain who was practically dying of laughter, "Oh my god... I'm crying I'm laughing so much..." she wiped some tears away, "Oh the pain..." laughter again, "Oh boy... you guys are definitely something else. Hey Jean?" Said boy looked at her, and his face immediately got redder when she winked at him, "At least you're a handsome horse-face Kirstein." The boy didn't know what to do anymore except look away, trying to hide his blushing face, as his good friend Marco patted his back, chuckling a bit.

"So how is Eren a suicidal bastard?" Wolfram asked laughing.

"Uh oh... I kinda earned it by saying I'm going to slay all the Titans," Eren chuckled nervously.

"Hm... I guess that would make you a suicidal bastard if you didn't train and learn properly," Arnoldo chuckled shaking his head, "You're stubborn and an idiot, so I can see how you got the name, but you'll prove everyone wrong right?"

"Yes sir!" Eren grinned.

"So we have a Potato-Girl," Mirja started but got interrupted.

"It was one time!" Sasha whined eating a piece of bread.

Mirja laughed, "We have a Horse-Face, and we have a Suicidal Bastard. What a weird bunch you all are."

"Reminds you of us doesn't it?" Ken asked.

"Mhm! Except we didn't call each other names like that," Mirja chuckled speaking the truth. She sat down on the ground, "You guys want to hear another story of one of our famous pranks?"

"Yes!" The cadets cheered forming a circle around the Margaux Squad.

"Let me tell you about the time we pranked one of our instructors during class... using worms and beetles!" Mirja started off, her squad only rolling their eyes but sat down beside her. The prank didn't sound like much, but let's just say that instructor now had a small phobia of insects.

 

* * *

 

Back at the HQ it was quiet. Sure there was the usual chatter and people running about, but ever since the Margaux Squad left to train to cadets three days ago, the place just seemed too quiet. In just almost two weeks everyone had gotten accustomed to the Margaux Squad's energy. They missed Scarlett's long reddish-brown curls that seemed to bounce with each movement. Wolfram's loud booming contagious laughter. They missed Arnoldo's sarcastic but friendly advice. Mirja's angelic face that blessed their eyes. And Ken's quietness that seemed to even out the rowdiness of the other four members. Everyone felt a bit down, including Levi's Squad.

"I miss them," Hanji whined, resting her head on the cafeteria table, "There's no one to laugh at my jokes!"

"No one cares about your possible Titan humor shitty-glasses," Levi directed his cold voice towards her, just trying to eat a mid-day snack in peace.

"It really is quiet without them, huh?" Mike asked, thinking out-loud.

"Not even Oruo's loud mouth can make this dreary atmosphere go away," Petra giggled slightly.

"H-Hey! What's that suppose to mean?!" Said male exclaimed, crossing his arms.

"How long are they going to be gone for?" Gunther asked.

"I believe Commander said until next Tuesday. Four more days until they come back," Eld informed, resting his chin on his hand, "What are they doing anyway?"

"They're helping train the cadets," Hanji said with a pout, "I miss Mirjaaaaa!"

"Shut up," Levi snarled.

Hanji sat up and pointed a finger at the male captain, "Oh please! You miss Scarlett too! Without her here, there's no one to actually give you a challenge. She's the only one that can get away with talking back to you," she smirked a bit, "Or maybe you just miss her beautiful face~" She hummed tapping a finger on her chin.

No one saw the very light blush that was on the captain's face, as his eyes glared directly at the brown haired scientist. His squad just winced instantly while Mike only watched amused. His glare only caused Hanji to burst in laughter.

"Oh, I'm just kidding! Unless it's true?" Hanji questioned then got her head hit by Levi.

"You talk too much," His voice was monotone and cold. He went to put away his tray, then walked out the building.

He wouldn't admit it in front of anyone, but he actually did miss the female captain. Hanji was right. Without her, no one challenged him physically or verbally. He had gotten accustomed to the daily bickering with the female captain. Plus he was actually a bit disappointed he wasn't able to spar said captain yet. _Soon_ , he thought. _I'll show her what skill really is._

 

* * *

 

The week of the Margaux Squad being gone was finally over. Erwin, Hanji, and Mike were standing in front of the main HQ building, waiting to welcome them back. As soon as they saw horses approaching them, Erwin smiled and Hanji grinned.

"Yes! They're back!" Hanji exclaimed, catching the interest of some soldiers walking around.

"Tch," Levi scoffed as he just walked out of the main building, with his squad behind him.

"Something's wrong," Erwin's eyebrows were furrowed as he watched the approaching horses. He immediately stepped forward confusing everyone around them. The horses stopped walking, slightly neighing as Erwin neared them. He walked to a jet black horse, with no rider on top. "Lettie?"

"Over here," Scarlett popped up from behind Wolfram's tall body. Her arms were wrapped around Wolfram's body. As Erwin eyed her, he noticed her hair was in the usual two right braids, but a white bandage was wrapped around her head securely. When she raised her left hand, she revealed another bandage wrapped around her palm and wrist.

"She got injured during a training session right before we had to leave," Arnoldo announced, "She hit her head pretty hard so we decided she shouldn't ride by herself." Arnoldo raised his hand showing he was not only holding his horse's reigns but Scarlett's as well.

"I see..." Erwin nodded and walked toward Wolfram, "Need help getting down?"

"I hurt my head not my legs," Scarlett rolled her eyes, but quite enjoyed the pampering, "But yes please!"

Erwin chuckled and held his arms up, as Wolfram turned slightly to help Scarlett get off. Scarlett carefully moved both her legs to one side of the horse, and slightly jumped right into Erwin's arms. Erwin swiftly caught her, holding her in a bridal style and smiled, "Didn't I tell you to be careful?"

"Did you?" She teased, "It's nothing that serious."

The rest of the Margaux Squad got off their horses swiftly, and a few soldiers walked over offering to put the horses away. After thanking the soldiers, they walked to Erwin and Scarlett.

"A cadet's gear malfunctioned during training, and Scar was the closest at the time it happened," Mirja explained, "His gear wasn't shooting out when he was in mid-air so Scar acted quickly by shooting her own gear to save him from the hard fall."

"The other cadets didn't hear our orders to freeze, so when Scar swooped in to catch him, five others crashed right into her, resulting into her injuries," Ken spoke softly, hands in his pockets.

"She ended up cutting her hand when she tried to use her hands as a barrier between her and a tree, but failed. That also resulted into her hitting her head pretty hard," Arnoldo finished.

"It wasn't that hard," Scarlett rolled her eyes, as she wrapped her arms around Erwin's neck and snuggling into his chest.

"YOU WERE KNOCKED OUT AND HANGING BY THE ONE WIRE YOU WERE BARELY ABLE TO HOOK ONTO A TREE," Arnoldo's voice was stern and scolding as he looked at his red-haired captain.

"You got knocked out by the impact?!" Hanji exclaimed, "Are you sure you don't have a concussion?!"

"I'm fine really," Scar chuckled and patted Erwin's cheek affectionately, "You can put me down. I'm fine, I swear."

"If you say so... but don't do anything drastic for a while ok?" Erwin ordered slowly putting the girl on her feet, only receiving a nod as an answer.

Everyone except the Margaux Squad, Hanji, and Levi were surprised at the affection Erwin and Scarlett showed each other. They never knew their Commander could be so willing to show affection like that. This only showed that the two were in fact close.

"Who was the cadet?" Mike asked.

"Arlert," Mirja informed, "And then the ones that crashed into her were Jaeger, Kirstein, Braun, Hoover, and Springer. Oh! Ken, as usual because of his quick reflexes, was able to catch Arlert just before he hit the ground. Poor guy, he looked so frightened," she pouted, "And he won't stop blaming himself for Scarlett's injuries!"

"I kept trying to tell him it wasn't his fault because it wasn't, y'know? But poor thing," Scarlett sighed, "If I have to blame someone, it would have to be the cadets that crashed into me," She laughed a bit, "Braun, Hoover, and Kirstein are tall, and _heavy_ ," she groaned.

"Maybe if you weren't so clumsy you would be okay," Levi's arms were crossed, as he gave Scarlett a piercing look with his eyes. Immediately the other soldiers backed away from the soon to be bickering Captains. Arnoldo rubbed his temples and looked at Erwin in hopes he would stop it. Erwin only watched, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, excuse me _Captain_ ," she spat out sending him a glare, "Don't make me smash your face in."

"Are you sure you even can in your state?" He spat back.

"I swear to god Ackerman," she growled walking to the male captain, "I can still take you down even in my curren state."

"Are you sure? Your squad is pampering you quite a bit. Are you sure you didn't lose any more brain cells with the hit you received?" A corner of his mouth slightly twitched up into a small smirk.

Scarlett's mouth went agape, "You're a little shit-head you know _Shorty_?" Now it was Levi's turn for his eyes to widen ever so slightly.

Soldiers couldn't help but to snicker quietly, and yes that even included Erwin, Mike, Oruo, Eld, and Gunther. Mirja and Hanji grinned at the ongoing scene. Ken only shook his head just slightly, but used to the bickering. Arnoldo face-palmed knowing this would not end well. Wolfram probably would've laughed out loud if only he wasn't helping a soldier calm Scarlett's horse.

"You shitty brat," Levi growled grabbing her by the collar, pulling her down to his height, causing some gasps from the others.

"Yes Captain?" She taunted, amber eyes looking directly into his steely gray eyes, not even intimidated by him.

"Let's fight. You and I. Now," he challenged.

"C-Captain," Petra spoke up, "She's already injured!"

"I'm sure you wouldn't be satisfied if you defeated her in this state Levi," Erwin advised, "It would be a greater feat if you defeated her in a good and healthy state."

"I'm fine," Scarlett spoke up, "I'm perfectly capable of defeating short-stuff here even in this state."

"Then it's on," Levi's cold voice made the female captain slightly shiver. He hadn't let go of her collar just yet.

Ken watched the two captains. Both pair of eyes were giving each other deadly glares that could have been used as a weapon. Then Ken noticed Scarlett's flushed face. He furrowed his eyebrows confused. He knew, he sensed, that his captain wasn't embarrassed. Why was she flushed? He watched her like a hawk, noticing how she was blinking and squinting as if trying to get her eyes to focus. Before he even got to say anything, her body went limp, only standing (or hanging really) by the sheer force of Levi's hands that were still grabbing onto the collar of her shirt. Her head lolled back, lips slightly parted, eyes now closed.

"Scarlett?!" Wolfram was now back to the scene just as his Captain went limp. He immediately glared at the male captain, ready to pounce on him, "You bastard! How dare you knock her out knowing she's already injured?!"

Levi was in shock, though his face didn't really show it. He stared at the woman in his hands, and knew that if he let go, she would fall to the ground. Just as Wolfram was about to punch Levi in the jaw, Ken swiftly caught Wolfram's fist wincing a bit at the impact.

"He didn't do it. She passed out," Ken informed, making Wolfram open his clenched fist.

Petra, Mirja, and Hanji quickly ran over to help the blacked-out Captain, as Erwin walked over and slightly held Scarlett's body, "Levi let go," his voice was stern, and the male captain immediately let go. Erwin easily carried Scar as he crouched down on the ground, holding the red-haired female. He made her back lean against his chest, as her legs were stretched out in front of her.

Petra put a hand on the female captain's face, and quickly retracted her hand away, "S-She's burning up!"

"Her head is bleeding a bit too. It might’ve reopened with all the sudden movement or wasn’t closed correctly in the first place." Hanji informed pointing to the now blood stained bandages around her head. Luckily her palm looked fine.

"Commander! We can take her to the infirmary," Eld spoke up extending his arms.

Erwin looked down at the girl in his arms, worried, but nodded and carefully passed her to Eld, "Make sure the medics clean her injuries again to make sure they're not infected."

"Yes sir!" Gunther replied as he followed Eld out who was holding Scarlett.

"She must have been hiding the fever the whole trip back," Arnoldo mumbled to himself, "Wolfram she didn't feel too warm when she was with you on your horse?"

"I-I'm not sure..." Wolfram looked down to the ground.

"That's not a good question to ask. Wolfram is a naturally warm person so even if Scarlett was burning up, he wouldn't have been able to tell," Mirja reminded, "And then we also know how much Scar likes to cuddle so even if she was already hot, she would have still cuddled into his back."

"She didn't have the fever on the way here. I would have noticed," Ken announced, taking his hoodie off, ruffling his hair, “In all honesty, it just came out of no where. It's a possibility that the thought of just being able to fight Levi got her riled up and just made her state worse. That and she’s good at hiding things like this or injuries. We can’t forget that"

"I see..." Erwin said as he stood back up and dusted his pants off, then looked at Arnoldo, "Report to my office in five so we can go over the assignment you just finished. Mind helping me with the paperwork?"

"Not at all," Arnoldo chuckled then looked at Mirja and Wolfram, "You guys go make sure Scarlett is okay. Ken, mind helping us as well?"

"I don't mind," Ken spoke adjusting his face-mask.

"Alright it's settled. Let's go," Erwin walked away followed by Arnoldo and Ken, as Mirja and Wolfram walked towards the infirmary.

"Captain?" Oruo snapped Levi out of his trance, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah..." Levi shook his head, combing his hair back with a hand, "I... I didn't do that did I?"

"Of coarse not!" Petra informed looking at her Captain with worried eyes, "She was already not feeling well."

"Right..." He mumbled under his breath, "Take the rest of the day off. I'll be in my office finishing paperwork. Make sure you let Eld and Gunther know."

The two members of his squad nodded and left. Levi ran a hand through his hair and started walking to his office. He felt something he hadn't felt in a while. It was worry... and guilt. It was confirmed that he wasn't the reason Scarlett had blacked-out, but he couldn't felt but feel guilty. Did he actually have a hard grip on her collar that possibly made her faint? Was it the rash movement of pulling her down that did it?

"Damn it," Levi growled and shook the thoughts out of his head, "Why the hell am I even worried? I don't give a damn about that brat." He told himself, but those same feelings wouldn't let him be. _Why was he even worried?_ She wasn't even in his squad. He sat down at his desk, and started some paperwork that was on his desk, drowning out his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I think I’ll update this until chapter 10 (maybe) and then do weekly updates from there. I haven’t fully decided yet but yeah. I tend to get really busy sometimes so I want to have updates ready for you guys just in case.
> 
> Also, soon enough I’ll start uploading a small Babysitting AU series my friend and I wrote as a fun spin-off of this series featuring the Margaux Squad and others!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation get the captains together... commence?

It had been two days since the Margaux Squad came back from the training camp, and two days since Scarlett had passed out. She had not waken up yet, and her head and palm seemed to be better. Her temperature also finally got back to normal after a day, so the others just assumed she was just exhausted hence why she hadn't woken up yet. The rest of her squad, took turns watching over her just in case her condition changed. Erwin would visit whenever he wasn't busy, but everyone knew he was worried like just like a concerned father would be.

Today unfortunately, her squad had things to take care of and no one would be able to see her until dinner time. Hanji did offer to check in on her when she wasn't working on her research, but Erwin rejected her offer not wanting Hanji. Hanji wasn't completely crazy, but he didn't want her to try any type of experiment that would make the unconscious Scarlett the test subject. Erwin instead resorted to ordering two soldiers to staying outside of Scarlett's room with a doctor checking up on her every hour and a half. Everyone continued as usual, even though the Margaux Squad seemed a bit down without their leader.

"Has Mirja even laughed since Scarlett blacked out?" Petra asked walking with her squad.

"Hm, yeah she has," Eld answered, "They all seem a bit down, but they're still themselves. Guess they are quite the family huh?"

"You can say that again," Gunther agreed, "Remember when Hanji said she could check in on Scarlett? Commander almost looked like he would have a heart attack."

"Even Ken and Arnoldo rejected the offer as soon as they could," Oruo chuckled.

"If you're all so worried about her, how about you go check in on her? Maybe then you will shut up about her and her squad," Levi scoffed.

Petra's face showed a bit of disappointment seeing that her Captain didn't care about the health of the female Captain, "Everyone's worried about her, Captain. She hasn't woken up yet," the short female looked at Eld and Gunther who only nodded, "But if you give us permission to go see her then we will do just that."

"Then go." Levi ordered crossing his arms.

"You seem to be even grumpier since she's been out you know~" Hanji popped out of nowhere, a grin on her face, "Are you going through 'Scarlett Withdrawal'?"

Levi only scowled and glared at Hanji, "I would never. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy a nice cup of tea."

Hanji only laughed at the retreating captain, "This is almost too easy. Say, does he talk about her with you guys?"

"Uh no... You know how he is, but he does seem to be grumpier than usual," Petra pointed out then gasped a bit, "Do you think Captain likes her?!"

The brown haired scientist only shrugged then grinned, "Who knows, but I have come up with a theory that Scarlett has a thing for your Captain. Why else would she call him pretty?"

"Uh, I think she's just a straight out honest person," Eld spoke, "She also doesn't have a what do you call it... a filter when she talks. Whether it's being honest about a person's appearance or on what she's thinking."

"Plus," Gunther laughed, "Remember that morning we all trained together? She told Eld and I we were quite the good looking guys. She also said Oruo would be more attractive if he would only keep his mouth shut."

"Tch, she just doesn't know what she's talking about," Oruo crossed his arms.

"Now that I think about it..." Petra hummed in thought, "They wouldn't be so bad if they were a couple, but we all know Captain would never even show it if he did like her."

"How about we team up Petra? I can get Mirja to help us out too," Hanji grinned, "Operation: Get the Captains Together!"

"Shh!!" Petra shushed the woman, "Don't say that so loud because if Captain or anyone hears that, they won't approve of it!"

"Plus you have another problem with that 'operation'," Eld informed, "What would Commander think about that?"

"I'm sure he'd be protective of his sweet little 'daughter' wouldn't you think?" Oruo mocked.

"Hm, that is true..." Hanji tapped her chin, "But that won't stop me! It's official! Petra, this operation will start once Scarlett wakes up," she grinned, "I'll let Mirja know in the meantime. Bye!"

"W-Wait! Aw man... I would love to see the Captain letting someone in his life, emotionally and romantically, but I don't think this is a very good plan..." The strawberry blond female sighed.

"Well on a good note: Captain does seem to like her... don't you think Eld? You're the one who has a significant other," Gunther questioned.

"H-Huh? Well I mean... He does seem to show more emotion when she's around... even though it's only been really anger, or smugness, but I guess? I don't know. It's hard to tell with him," Eld was honest.

"That's true... will you guys help out too? Please?" Petra pouted, "This is all for our Captain. What do you say?" The three males were reluctant but gave in to their female squad member which made Petra grin, "Alright then! Let's go visit Scarlett now!"

And off they went, to check up on the female captain.

 

* * *

 

"U-Uh sir, we weren't informed you would be coming by to visit her," a soldier spoke, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I'm your Captain, I don't need your permission," Levi glared at the two soldiers beside Scarlett's room door, "Now let me pass or you'll both be knocked out before you can even say 'sorry'."

"Y-Yes sir!" Another soldier spoke, unlocking the door, letting the male captain walk in.

Levi walked in and was surprised to find the female's room was actually quite clean. Maybe not like his, but at least he didn't see dust flying around. He closed the door with his foot, and placed the tray of tea he was holding beside her bed on a nightstand. He looked down at her sleeping form, and again saw a relaxed look on her face. She wasn't smiling nor was she glaring. She was relaxed. Since he met her, he noticed an interesting fact about her. She had what Wolfram and Mirja called a "resting bitch face". When Scarlett would space out, he noticed that if she wasn't smiling or had a face of determination, her eyes would naturally glare slightly at nothing in particular, and her lips would purse just a bit. It reminded him of him. It reminded everyone of him, and it sometimes scared the soldiers, but unlike him, as soon as someone called her name or snapped her out of her trance, a smile or a confused look would place itself on her face. To him it was actually kind of cute. _Wait did I just think she was cute? What the hell?_ The male Captain shook off the thought, and sat on a chair beside her bed.

"Come on, brat," Levi scoffed, "You have everyone worried including your squad and Erwin so wake the fuck up." He crossed one leg across the other leaning back in the chair, "... I have no one to challenge me with you not awake so WAKE UP." Like he expected, there was no response. She just laid on her back, breathing steadily and calmly. He looked at her head and saw that someone, most likely Mirja or Ken, let her hair loose. The bandages were still wrapped around her head and hand. He scoffed a bit, and served himself some tea. "Why the hell did I even come here... I'm wasting my time here." He spoke to himself, and sipped some tea, sighing a bit content with the taste.

As he looked around her room, he noticed a few interesting things. She actually had some makeup on her dresser, along with a few bottles of perfume. As his eyes scanned around more, his eyes widened slightly. She had a display case besides her dresser mirror full of: knives, different kinds of swords, and even a few guns. _Why the hell does she have those in display?_ She looked back at the female sleeping, then at the nightstand when he served himself more tea. Then he noticed the necklace. Someone had taken it off, and it was hanging on a small jewelry tree, as well as the black ring she always wore on her finger. Ever since he laid eyes on the two jewelry pieces, he wanted to know the backstory to them, but he would never ask her, and he knew she wouldn't tell him. Maybe one of the Margaux Squad members would spill the beans to Hanji and Hanji would tell him. As he kept thinking on what the necklace could mean, he finished his tea and set it on the nightstand. He looked out the open window, and drowned in his own thoughts. Why did he even come and visit her when she seemed to be his 'enemy'? Why the hell did he think she was cute? And why the fuck was he even worrying about her?

 

* * *

 

After what seemed like an hour, Scarlett stirred in her sleep, her hands slightly twitching.

"What the fuck..." She mumbled under her breath, and sat up, immediately holding her head in pain, "What even?" She rubbed her head a bit then felt the bandage. Then she remembered everything from the point she got injured, to the point where she passed out. She didn't remember why she passed out, but she knew she was arguing with Levi when it happened. "Damn it," she hissed, "He's going to use that against me now. Fucking hell. Good job Scarlett." She laid back down, looking at her ceiling. She calmed down, trying to determine how long she was out. When she lifted her right hand, her eyes widened when she didn't see her ring. She quickly touched her neck and didn't feel the necklace either. She sat up quickly and her first thought was to check the nightstand and there they were. She let out a relieved sigh until she gasped when she saw a person sitting on a chair near her bed.

It was Levi. He had his arms crossed, with his head dropped forward.

"Why the hell is he in my room?!" She asked then her mouth went agape lightly, "Was he just watching me sleep?!" On instinct she grabbed one of her pillows and threw it directly at said male's head.

The impact caught the sleeping captain by surprise as he panicked and fell on the floor with a loud 'thud'. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" He exclaimed as the pillow landed on his lap and he glared at it. As he glared at it, he remembered, he was in Scarlett's room, but she was out-cold. Then... who threw the pillow? As he slowly looked up the bed, his eyes widened just a bit as he saw the red-haired female sitting, ready to throw another pillow at him.

"What are you doing in my room?! Were you watching me sleep like some type of creep?!" She accused then quickly held her head which started hurting from her own yelling.

"Tch, yeah right..." Levi scoffed and got up from the floor, dusting off his pants, "I was actually paying you a visit to see how you were. I fell asleep here was all. Unappreciative brat." He let the words slip right out of his mouth. Why was he being honest?

A look of confusion filled her face, "You were...?"

"Why is that so hard to believe? I'm not that big of an asshole," He spat.

"You were attempting to fight me when I was already injured," amber eyes looked directly at his gray ones, her eyes filled with confusion and another emotion he couldn't pin-point.

"You were okay with fighting me in your state. Don't forget you were up for it," Levi kept his eyes on her.

The next face she made was a face that just read "true" and then she laughed, "Touché. Ah," she rubbed her neck, "Sorry for hitting you with the pillow. I just never expected you to y'know, actually visit me."

"Yeah yeah," Levi turned to leave but stopped and looked at her, "... Would you like some tea?"

She thought for a bit, and then gave him a warm smile that Levi didn't expect, "I'd really appreciate it. Could you uh, also get some pills for this headache. My own yelling made my head hurt again."

The black-haired captain gulped slightly. Her smile was bright and kind, something he had only seen directed to others especially her squad or Erwin. He never expected it for him. He nodded his head just a bit and picked up the tray of tea he brought in, "Yeah sure. I'll be back."

She nodded her head at him, and as soon as he left the room, she slowly got up, and went into her bathroom to take a shower. When Levi stepped out of the room, he noticed the two soldiers that were 'guarding' her room were now gone. He was sure Erwin didn't relieve them of their duties. Nevertheless he left to the kitchen and brewed a fresh pot of tea. As he was leaving the kitchen, he remembered she liked her tea sweet, unlike him. He grabbed the sugar and placed it on the tray. After making a quick visit to the infirmary for some pills, while also letting the doctor know she was awake but fine, he made his way back to her room. He knocked on the door with his foot gently, and when he didn't hear an answer he walked in slowly, to see her missing. His good hearing let him know she was taking a shower. He set the tray down on the nightstand again, and sat down on the chair again.

After a few minutes, she walked out of her linked bathroom, wearing only some black shorts, and semi-big forest green tee. She gently dried her hair with a towel, before hanging the towel up and taking out two fresh new bandages. When she turned to look at herself in her mirror, she jumped, "O-Oi sorry. I had to take a quick shower. Uh... mind helping me wrap my head and hand again?"

Levi couldn't help but roll his eyes, but extended his hand to her, "Give me the bandages and sit down on your bed," she did as told surprisingly, and now that the bandage wasn't on her head, he finally noticed the now-healing cut on her forehead, "Is that the only place that got cut?"

"No," Scar tapped her chin, "The back of my head has a cut too since I kind of bounced on the tree."

The male nodded and reached for her head slowly, touching the back of her gently making her wince, "I'm guessing it's here?" She nodded, "Alright. Just stay still and I'll wrap it up." And he did just that. With swift but soft hands, he wrapped her head up neatly then her hand, "Good?"

"Just what I expected from Captain Levi," she let out a small chuckle, "Thank you." Said male actually smiled unconsciously a bit, and her eyes went wide, "You smiled!"

"No I didn't," He retorted, his face going stoic again as he served two cups of tea.

"But you did!" She whined, "Aw come on! It's not a bad thing to smile Ackerman~" A sly smirk placed itself on her lips, "And it looks quite good on you if I'm being honest."

Levi almost spilled some tea at the unexpected compliment. His cheeks involuntarily turning pink, "You need to shut up brat," he spoke passing her a cup and two pills, "Now drink."

She pouted just a bit but smiled, and took the pills first, quickly swallowing them and then slowly drank some tea, "Did you somehow guess how much sugar I like in my tea? One spoonful and a half?"

"Lucky guess," he drank from his own cup, "I just knew you liked yours sweet."

Scarlett smiled, her hands holding the cup securely taking in its warmth, "Lucky guess then..." she looked down at the cups and noticed it was the ones she gifted to him, "Oh? You're actually using them?"

"It would be a waste if I didn't," Levi replied. He looked towards her necklace again and hesitated a bit but asked anyway, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she nodded looking at him.

"What does that necklace mean to you?" Levi asked with a confident tone.

She sipped some more tea, before placing the cup on her lap and looking out the window, "That must have been on your mind for a bit huh?" She pursed her lips in thought then nodded, looking directly at him, "The chain itself was given to me by my father right before I enlisted into the military training," she smiled, "It was just a simple silver chain. He said he was waiting to the day I enlisted to give it to me. It became my lucky charm that day."

Levi nodded listening carefully, "And the rings on it? If I heard correctly, the rings symbolize your family right?"

"They do but... the rings on my necklace are the rings of my former members," her voice got quiet, "Let's just say that they left... They were relieved of their duties, and I took back the rings since they left."

"So they're alive?" Levi questioned.

Scarlett looked at him and nodded just a bit, "They left the Survey Corps and my squad, to leave to a better place."

"I see..." The male captain nodded.

"I only keep them as a reminder that they wouldn't have left if it wasn't for me..." Scarlett sighed and drank more tea, "Uhm... no more questions concerning my necklace alright? You should be honored I even told you, but... For some reason I trust you, and by that I mean, please don't tell anyone."

"I won't tell anyone," Levi was honest.

"Thank you," Scarlett smiled and finished her tea setting her cup on the tray, "You make delicious tea Captain." The male only hummed in response, "So I guess we'll be back to being 'frenemies' after I get better?"

The male captain actually let out a small chuckle, "I guess so. I'm the one that's suppose to give you a beating not a tree."

"Yeah whatever you say Ackerman," she rolled her eyes but grinned at him, "Thank you for visiting me though and for the tea."

"It's the least I could do," Levi finished his own tea, and set his cup down on the tray, "I let the doctor know you're awake, so your squad should be here soon."

"SCARLETT?!" Mirja and Hanji burst through the door. Once they laid eyes on the red-haired female sitting up, they quickly ran over and squished her in a hug while yelling simultaneously, "You're awake!"

"Speak of the devil..." Levi whispered getting up from the chair, just as the rest of the Margaux Squad walked in.

"Had enough sleep, sleepy-head?" Wolfram chuckled.

"I'm glad you're awake," Arnoldo groaned, "I can't deal with these idiots by myself any longer." He referred to Mirja, Wolfram, and Hanji as well.

"And Erwin hasn't stopped worrying about you," Ken chuckled quietly.

"Can't breath..." Scarlett tried escaping the arms of her friends, but couldn't succeed.

"Oí, brats," Levi hissed, "She can't breath and she's still injured."

Hanji and Mirja quickly let go, Scarlett finally able to breath. Everyone eyed Levi a bit, not even noticing he was even in there.

"Thank you..." Scarlett spoke with a smile.

Levi only nodded and left the room with the tray. Wolfram and Arnoldo have each other confused looks while Mirja and Hanji looked at other with grins. Ken only had a raised eyebrow in amusement. Did the cold-faced Levi actually visit Scarlett when she was asleep?

"Why was he here?" Arnoldo asked.

"Apparently he was checking up on me and accidentally fell asleep on that chair right there. I woke up before he did, and threw a pillow at him," Scarlett laughed, "He actually helped re-bandage my head and hand when I apologized for the pillow. He even treated me to some tea."

"Oh??" Hanji smirked, "Were you flirting with Captain Levi???"

"W-What?!" The female captain stuttered, "No! He was actually being nice and I wasn't going to be rude in return. Why would you even think that?!"

"I don't know," Mirja shrugged, "His pretty face~?"

Scarlett ran her hands over her face and groaned, "But I wasn't flirting with him. Besides, he only sees me as a 'frenemy' anyway."

"Oh, so you do like him?" Hanji questioned making Scarlett's cheeks redden.

"Oh my god," Scarlett groaned, "Stop it. My head is hurting again."

"Guys guys. Let's leave Scarlett and her pretty obvious crush on Levi alone," Wolfram laughed.

"You too?!" She groaned covering her face, making everyone in the room including Arnoldo and Ken laugh. "I hate you all..."

"Lettie?!" Erwin ran into the room, slightly panting, his usually perfectly slicked back hair a bit out of place, "You are awake!"

As soon as Scarlett uncovered her face and laid eyes on Erwin, her eyes shone with happiness, "Erwin!"

"Thank god you're awake!" Erwin ran over, everyone else moving out of the way, "I was so worried something was truly wrong..." He sat down and gave her a big bear hug. Scarlett immediately grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck, nuzzling into his chest.

"I'm a fighter Erwin~" She chuckled, "I'm sorry I worried all of you, especially you."

"Don't worry about it. As long as you're okay now," Erwin smiled and kissed the top of her head, "... Now... what's this about you having a crush on Levi?"

"Erwin!" She whined hitting his chest lightly, "Not you too!"

Everyone in the room burst out in laughter. Scarlett was finally awake and seemed perfectly okay. Most kept teasing Scarlett about her apparent 'obvious crush' on the male captain, while she only whined and kept hiding her face in Erwin's chest. Erwin would only rub her back with a small smile. 

Elsewhere, Levi had washed his dishes and went back to his office. He only had one thing on his mind that was distracting him from finishing the paperwork on his desk. It was her smile. A warm smile that he had never expected to be directed to him.


	10. Chapter 10

"But Erwin I'm fine! See look!" Scarlett whined and pointed to her now healed forehead and palm, "The back of my head is all better too! I swear I'm all good to go now!"

"That's what you said last time and you passed out," Erwin spoke, sitting at his desk, looking up at the pouting girl in front of him.

She tapped her fingers on her side and let out a sigh, "Ok yeah true, but I'm getting bored! It's been two days since I woke up and you still haven't let me train or do anything."

"The medic said to still not overdo anything in case you would faint again," Erwin advised.

"Erwinnnnnnn," she whined and put her hands in front of her in a begging manner, giving her best puppy dog face, "Please let me train with my squad again. I swear I'll be careful! And if I feel dizzy or anything I'll immediately stop. Ok? Please!"

Erwin again faltered in his composure watching the red-haired female. Why did she always have to play dirty like that? He sighed and crossed his arms, "Fine. If you feel sick or anything you are to stop, but if you faint again, you won't be doing anything for a week. Is that clear?" She nodded her head feverishly, "Good. Now be careful ok?"

"Yes sir!" Scarlett grinned, giving a half heartily salute then ran out of Erwin's office, leaving the blond Commander shaking his head with a small chuckle.

The rest of the Margaux Squad were waiting outside of the main building, waiting to see if their leader could finally train with them. Wolfram spoke up first as soon as she stepped out, "So??? What'd he say?"

"He said yes! Finally!" She groaned, "I had to resort to begging and giving my best charm though. Anyway! What should we do?"

"We need to warm up first, especially since you haven't done shit the last few days. Then we'll start with some races. After that, some gear training. If you really don't pass out today, tomorrow we'll spar because if we spar today and you pass out, Erwin will have our heads on a platter," Arnoldo shivered a bit just at the thought.

Mirja laughed, "Can I invite Hanji and Mike if they're aren't busy?" Scarlett and Arnoldo nodded their heads, then she smirked a bit, "What about Levi's Squad?"

"I'm sure they must be doing training of their own," Ken informed making the blond female pout.

"I guess... Well! I'm going to go see if Mike and Hanji are available! Let's meet up at the training field?" Everyone nodded, "I'll be right back!"

As soon as Mirja ran off, the rest of her squad headed towards the training field. Mirja knew where Hanji would be, her lab of coarse. She knocked twice, but knew the scientist was in their when she heard the clatter of glass.

"Come in!" Hanji yelled, making Mirja walk in, "Mirja! What's going on buddy?"

"Oh my god... M-Mirja please make her stop! She's been trying to make some type of weird antidote the whole day, and she almost blew up her lab! Please make her stop!" Moblit practically begged.

"Oh??? Well I guess I came at a good time. Hanji~" Mirja grinned, "Erwin finally gave Scarlett permission to train again. I wanted to see if you and Mike wanted to join."

"Oh?!" Hanji dropped whatever she was doing and turned to look at the blond, "Of coarse I'll join! Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"And Mike?"

"He's actually helping Erwin with something today so he's out of the question," Hanji shrugged, "Anyone else?"

"Of coarse," Mirja snickered, "I'm trying to get Levi's Squad to train with us. We are still doing this 'operation' right?"

Hanji's eyes gleamed with excitement, "That's right! Petra agreed to it too so yes! Let's go find them!" As soon as those words left her mouth, the brown haired girl grabbed the blond's and she dragged her elsewhere.

After what seemed like a minute, Hanji seemed to know exactly where said Squad was. They were already at the Titan dummy area. Gunther and Oruo seemed to be the ones practicing right now because the other three were on the ground watching.

Petra turned around and saw the two females, "Oh! Hey guys," she smiled, "What brings you two here?"

"Nothing much. We're going to start a training session in a bit. We were wondering if you guys wanted to join us," Mirja smiled.

"What are you guys going to do?" Eld asked.

"We're going to be doing foot races, and then gear races. Tomorrow we'll be sparring IF Scarlett is totally ok," The blonde female chuckled, "You guys up for it?"

"The brat is finally able to train again?" Levi scoffed.

"Mhm! Erwin finally have her permission!" Hanji grinned, "Don't you feel like beating Scarlett in a race?"

"What's this about a race?" Gunther asked after landing near the group.

"I'm in!" Oruo smirked in a cocky manner, "I'm sure I'll win."

"I don't think we've seen them race by foot yet have we?" Petra asked herself, "Seems like fun! Can we Captain?"

Levi crossed his arms and sighed a bit, "Fine. Only because I feel like beating Margaux in her own game."

"Yeah yeah," Mirja rolled her eyes, "Let's go! They're already at the training grounds."

And with that, Levi's Squad plus Hanji and Mirja headed towards the training fields, where the Margaux Squad were doing warm up exercises. Well everyone was except Scarlett and Ken. Ken was sitting behind his captain, braiding her hair into two exquisite french braids. Scarlett was humming to herself waiting for her friend to finish, and she stretched her arms a bit.

"W-wow Ken! Where'd you learn to braid hair so well?" Petra asked watching his hands swiftly twisting the hair.

"My sisters," Ken responded, eyes focused on the hair, "Since they're younger than me I taught myself how to do it so their hair wouldn't always be in the way."

"Your sisters must love you, huh?" Hanji grinned asking, only getting a curt nod from the mask covered male.

"All done?" Scarlett asked and Ken only replied by patting her head, "Cool! Well I'm already warmed up so..." she stood up and saw Levi's Squad behind them, slightly narrowing her eyes, "Oh? So you're going to join us?"

"You don't mind do you?" Petra asked fumbling with her hands.

"Of coarse not. We just thought you'd be doing something else," Scarlett smiled, "Up for some races?"

"Are you ready to lose is the question," Levi stated, raising an eyebrow at the female captain.

"There you go again..." Scarlett sighed but laughed, "Its on Ackerman."

"Alright! So what will the course be?" Hanji asked, "Also I'm not very good at running so I'll be the judge!" Everyone only nodded at her. They knew she could run, maybe she wasn't the best, but she could run. Besides she wanted to watch Levi's face when he lost because she has heard of the Margaux Squad's speed by foot.

"The course will be from from the beginning of the field to the end. You have to run to the end, and back. Whoever finishes first wins. Best out of three wins overall," Arnoldo announced and again everyone agreed.

"Uh..." Ken mumbled, "Should I step out of the races then?"

"Why would you do that?" Oruo asked with a funny face, "Afraid you'll be left in our dust?"

The Margaux Squad and Hanji only snickered.

"That's not it at all," Wolfram laughed, "He's going to have you eating your words Bozad~"

"Hm... You can race with us, but you won't count," Scarlett laughed a bit, "Just because I want them to witness your speed," Ken nodded, "Alright then. Everyone prepare yourself then."

All the Margaux Squad members took off their Corps jackets, and started unbuckling all their straps. After finishing they set their items in their own individual neat piles.

"This way we have nothing restricting our movements. You guys should do the same," the female captain advised.

"We'll be fine," the male captain scoffed, "You do your thing, and we'll do ours."

"Whatever man," Wolfram chuckled.

"Alright everyone to the starting line!" Hanji exclaimed, making everyone go to the beginning of the field, "I don't have a starter pistol, so whenever I say go, well go," she laughed, "On your mark..." The Margaux Squad immediately got into their sprinter crouch positions as the Levi Squad got in a regular normal starting position, "Get set...." Hanji was standing on the sidelines but she saw a fire of determination in the Margaux Squad's eyes. It only made the brown haired female smirk. She hummed a bit deciding to torture them a bit, then she lifted her right arm up, "GO!" She threw her arm down, and as soon as she did, a giant cloud of dirt formed making Levi's Squad freeze and cough in their spots.

"What the fuck was that?! There is dirt all over me now," Levi groaned.

"U-uh Captain..." Petra's eyes were wide as she looked forward.

"What?" He was annoyed as he started dusting himself off.

"How in the holy fuck..." Gunther mumbled watching in front of him.

"That's not normal..." Eld pointed out while Oruo's mouth was only agape in shock.

When Levi finally looked up from his clothes to the scene in front of him, his eyes actually widened. What he saw made him gulp. The Margaux Squad was already on their way back, with trails of dirt floating behind them. Ken passed the finish line, only adjusting his face mask, and then crossed his arms. The next person that finished was Mirja, who cheered, and high-fived Ken. Then Scarlett passed the line, who only grinned at her two Squad members that were finished. Soon after Wolfram passed the finish line.

"HA! Beat you again Dinapoli!" Wolfram exclaimed, pointing a finger at Arnoldo who just crossed the finish line.

"Shut it Lange," Arnoldo rolled his eyes.

Hanji squealed in excitement running over to said Squad, "YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! Ken finished in four seconds! How is that even possible?!" She gasped in realization, "Would you guys allow me to study you??? I want to know what all your capacities are, and how the heck you're able to do everything you do!"

"Are we as interesting as your Titans?" Scarlett teased, wiping a small bead of sweat with the back of her hand.

Hanji faltered but grinned, "Yes! So can I?!" The Margaux Squad looked at each other then all did a look of 'why not' and nodded their head towards the scientist, "Yes! I can't wait until we start. Oh yeah..." she turned to look at Levi and his squad, "You guys suck."

That comment caused the Margaux Squad to laugh. Petra only blushed, while Eld and Gunther gave Hanji playful glares. Oruo actually glared but pouted a bit ashamed. Levi only rolled his eyes.

"They somehow cheated. This whole thing was rigged from the beginning," He stated crossing his arms.

"How??? We took all of our gear off including the straps," Scarlett informed crossing her own arms, "Don't be a sore loser Captain."

"Shut your mouth Margaux. I don't believe it. Do it again," Levi ordered.

"Is that an order?" Wolfram intervened, raising an eyebrow.

"Do it again," the male captain almost growled.

"Fine. Only to make you eat your words," Arnoldo spoke and made everyone line up at the starting line.

"Ok! Ready...set...go!" Hanji exclaimed, and again a big cloud of dirt was left where the Margaux Squad once was. After the dust cleared a bit, Levi got closer and looked at the ground. The ground had imprints. The force of their take-off was so strong that dirt was piled up in the spots where their feet once were.

As soon as Levi looked back up, all he heard was "LOOK OUT!". Before he even knew, a blur of black had grabbed him and moved him out of the way just as two figures crossed the line. He looked to see who grabbed him, and saw Ken. Ken let go of him, mumbling a small 'sorry'. Soon after two more figures crossed the line.

"Beat you again Lange," Arnoldo teased laughing.

"Rematch!" Wolfram exclaimed.

"Oh my god give me a second to breath..." Mirja whined panting a bit.

"Wait... who won that round?" Petra asked.

"Not counting Ken, I did," Scarlett said catching her breath. After the five regained their breaths, they got in position, and ran off as soon as Hanji said go. Once that race was over, the order they arrived in was: Ken, Scarlett, Arnoldo, Mirja, and finally Wolfram. The rest of them were just at them in amazement. Levi only looked at them with slightly narrowed eyes.

"You guys are the best," Hanji grinned, "No wonder Commander and Shadis love you guys!"

"How... how are you guys so fast?" Levi finally asked.

"Keith wasn't lying when he said he punished us. He made us run like hell ever since we joined the training camp. Plus we were punished to run a lot too so..." Scarlett laughed and shrugged, "It's not hard once you get used to it. Plus that's also how we're able to push ourselves from tree to tree without our gear. I don't mean to brag but we have pretty strong legs," she couldn't help but laugh, "Overall we're just in a great shape and have amazing traits as soldiers."

"I see..." Levi responded.

"Can you help us reach our top speed?" Eld asked.

"Of coarse!" Mirja grinned, "Just be ready to run... a lot. Oh! And Ken will of coarse be the instructor since he's the fastest out of all of us."

"You... you guys can't be human!" Oruo finally got out of his shock.

"We're just super humans I guess," Wolfram laughed, "Now! Since we raced and you guys didn't, its your turn for you guys to race."

And that's exactly what they did. One would have thought Levi wouldn't do as ordered, but he was actually quite intrigued so he did as told. The Margaux Squad tried showing them some tricks on improving their speed, and even ran along side them to show them support. Hanji had even joined in the training, mostly because she was remembering details for her experiments later with said Squad.

 

* * *

 

"M-my legs... I can't feel them anymore..." Oruo whined as he dropped down at a seat at a table.

It was dinner time now, and the Margaux and Levi's squad training for the day was finally over. There was only one difference between the two squads. Levi's Squad was tired, and you could see it in the way they moved and how they were still trying to catch their breath. The Margaux Squad still had a ton of energy. They relaxed in their seats, most with smug looks on their faces. Even Levi wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. He didn't regret doing the training with the others today, but it had been a while since he was worked out like that.

"Just take a warm shower before you go to sleep and finish it off with cold water. Your body will feel much better in the morning. It won't feel as sore as it should be," Arnoldo advised.

"How are you guys not tired?" Petra asked resting her head on her hand.

"They're super humans remember?" Hanji laughed, "Hey, will Mike and Commander be joining us tonight?"

"Who knows," Wolfram laughed taking his hair out of the small ponytail.

"I'll get us food," Arnoldo stood up again, referring to his squad plus Hanji. Ken quietly got up and followed Arnoldo to help him.

"So... Does Arnoldo always get the food for all of you with the help of Ken?" Eld asked and the squad in front of him nodded, "And Ken always picks up your trays after you're done?" Again nods, "Wow... that's nice."

"Trying to say we're not nice?" Gunther asked laughing.

"Like I said we're just super close, and since we've been together for so long, we all somehow got assigned duties for things such as getting food to picking up the trays, to even doing laundry," Scarlett laughed, "We did live in a home together for a while so yeah."

"Hey is that Erwin and Mike?" Mirja pointed out, looking towards the open cafeteria doors where other soldiers were walking in. Scarlett immediately turned around and looked past all the other random soldiers and spotted who she was looking for, an immediate grin on her face. Mirja laughed and whispered to Levi's Squad, "Watch this."

Scarlett got up, and ran towards the blonde Commander who had his back turned to the cafeteria doors. Mike sniffed a bit and turned to see the red-haired female running towards him, but before he even tried to warn the Commander, Scarlett jumped and landed on Erwin's back. Erwin gasped in shock, almost falling forward but was able to balance himself out again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist.

"Erwin!!!" Scarlett grinned, "Training was super fun today. You should have joined us! You too Mike," she grinned, resting her chin on Erwin's shoulder, "And I didn't feel dizzy or anything once. I'm telling you I'm perfectly fine~."

Erwin only chuckled and reached a hand over and pat the girl on the head, "What did you do for training?"

"We ran. So we raced. We made Levi's Squad eat their words and our dust," she laughed, "And then because we're nice people, we helped them train to try to be faster. As you can see, they're exhausted," She pointed to the squad who were trying to get food with a small look of pain on their faces. Levi only had a small scowl on his face, "It was wonderful. Wanna join us for dinner?"

"That's why we came here on the first place," Erwin smiled and walked towards the table, with the female captain still on his back. Mike only followed quietly behind them.

As Mike got near the table, he sniffed a bit and made a small face of disgust, "It smells like sweat... All of you."

Wolfram only laughed, "We trained hard today, my man. If you trained like we did today, you'd be bathing in your sweat just like them." He pointed to Levi's Squad.

"The only reason why Levi isn't freaking out about all the sweat is because he's still stunned the Margaux Squad are faster than him~" Hanji sang.

"If anything he'll be showering for two hours later," Scarlett added laughing and finally got off Erwin's back carefully and sat down. She then started to eat the food Arnoldo had brought over while she was running towards Erwin.

Slowly the table was filled with chatter and the sound of food being chewed.

 

* * *

 

It was now around midnight. By this time, everyone was already asleep, except for two people. One was the usual insomniac Captain Levi, and the other was surprisingly Captain Margaux. Scarlett was roaming the halls, humming to herself, her red curls loose, dressed in her usual pajama wear (which was a comfy tee shirt and black shorts). Her bare feet barely made any noise as she walked around. She didn't really know what to do. All she knew was that she couldn't fall asleep. Her body was tired, but her mind was not and she didn't feel like waking up any of her Squad members or even Erwin. As she hummed a familiar tune, she headed towards the kitchen after feeling her throat a bit dry.

"Should I get tea... or water?" Scarlett asked herself, "Hm, too lazy to make myself tea right now. Water it is."

As soon as she walked into the kitchen, she was confused by the light already being on. Her eyes adjusted to the light and saw a black haired male. Hearing someone come in, gray eyes immediately looked up from their boiling pot of water.

"I hope you're not stalking me," The male captain spoke, making the female roll her eyes, making him smirk just a bit, "Couldn't sleep?"

"Yup," she sighed, picking up a cup and serving herself some water, then sat on the counter.

"Brat, food gets placed there," He snarled.

"And I'm sure they clean it," Scarlett rolled her eyes, "Besides I'm a clean person."

"Mhm sure," Levi teased, "... Would you like some tea?"

She nodded with a small smile and looked right at him, "So I take it that you couldn't sleep either?"

"I don't sleep a lot. I'm always too busy," he replied.

"I see..." Scarlett nodded and tapped her fingers on the counter, the tapping of her fingers a common thing for her to do.

As the water got boiled, Levi started brewing the tea, serving it in two cups when he was done. Before Scarlett even tried to put sugar in it, Levi stopped her by telling her he had already put it in for her. That had made her smile, and thank him.

"So did you enjoy the training today?" Scarlett asked taking a small sip.

He drank some tea before answering, "It was... interesting to the say the least. The last time I ran like that was when before I joined the military," he lightly scoffed at the memory, "And that was a long time ago. Do you guys seriously run for fun like you said?"

"Mhm," the female chuckled, "Sounds crazy I know, but Keith just always had us running so much, we ended up enjoying it. I mean sure, we get tired of it as well, but we usually enjoy it. We especially like it when people challenge us and then they just end up eating our dust. Basically what you did~"

Levi only scoffed, "I still believe you were somehow cheating."

"Sore loser,"

"Fucking brat,"

"Shitty shorty,"

"I hate you, you know?" Levi growled, placing his cup on the table.

"Aw I love you too~" Scarlett teased, making Levi almost spill his tea. He looked at her like she was crazy, but she only drank her tea, smiling at the taste. He covered his face slightly with his hand, covering his warmed cheeks.

Did she not realize what she had just said to him? She only hummed looking to the side, drinking her tea. Levi narrowed his eyes slightly at her, but thought nothing more of it since she didn't either. He guessed that was just her way of turning an insult into a compliment, and he wasn't going to question it. Minutes went by and both had finished their tea. Scarlett offered to wash the dishes, and Levi didn't reject the offer, but he watched just to make sure she cleaned them well, which surprisingly she did.

"Are you heading to bed now?" Levi asked, not really sure why he asked.

"No not yet. My mind isn't tired yet..." She stretched a bit, and let out a small yawn, "Body is but not my body. Hm... are you busy? Mind staying up and chatting with me for a bit?"

"Do I have a choice?" He scoffed.

She only slightly glared at him, "Of coarse you do. That's why I'm asking."

"Fine then. I only have a little stack of paperwork left anyway. Where to?" He asked crossing his arms.

"The library," She grinned and walked out the kitchen, her curls slightly bouncing as she walked away. Levi only followed, watching her hair a bit. Hanji was right, she really did have some interesting hair. It made him want to reach for it and touch it, but he didn't. A walk later, the two walked in the library and Scarlett sat down on one of the comfy chairs, while Levi sat on the one across from her.

"What do you want to talk about, brat?" His cold gray eyes looked at her.

She only laughed and shrugged, "I don't know," before he could throw an insult at her, she spoke again, "Oh. Do you enjoy working for Erwin?"

The question almost caught him off guard, but he kept his posture, and looked at her right in the eye, "I do. He's one of the few people I will listen to. I trust him. He's... he's a good man." The red-haired female only smiled a bit and nodded her head, "My turn. What made you join the military?"

Amber eyes slightly widened in shock at the question, but went back to normal as she answered, "My family. I always wanted to be strong for them, and I was never interested in doing a normal job like a merchant or a waitress or any of that. Plus..." She scratched her cheek with a finger, an almost shy smile on her face, "I wanted to be just like my father. He used to be in the Survey Corps too. He would tell my brother and I stories of his adventures. He wasn't really someone famous like you, Hanji, Mike, or Erwin, but he was a squad leader. He actually retired when I was born. I don't know... I'm still daddy's little girl, but even when I joined the military, he was so proud of me. He accepted my decision and supported me in my decision unlike some parents who want their kids to stay against their will. Like I understand being in the military can risk your life, but if your child is willing to put their life on the line, the parent should be filled with pride and support not disgust." Levi nodded his head a bit listening, urging her to continue, "I had my mind set on being in the military at a young age. Around five maybe? That's when my father started telling me stories of his adventures. That's what really made me want to join. I wanted to see the world too. I knew it would be worth it."

"And your father still supports you to this day...?" Levi asked almost quietly.

Scarlett swallowed a bit, lightly touching her necklace, but smiled, "He is. He's very proud of where I am now," she sighed a bit, "My turn again..."

And so they continued asking each other questions. Some were slightly personal, but not too personal to the point either would be uncomfortable. Some questions were even silly, such as Levi asking Scarlett why Keith called her 'Carl', a boy name. She only answered by saying the word carl itself was in her name, and Keith called her it to annoy her, but mostly embarrass her. Minutes went by until it was almost one thirty in the morning. Levi was staring out the open window, waiting for Scarlett to ask another question. It has been two minutes now and she didn't ask anything. What was going on? As he finally turned around to ask her what was going on, he found her asleep in her chair. Her legs were curled up to her body, her head leaning back on one of the pillows of the chair, with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Such a brat..." Levi groaned a bit, "Can't she at least go to her bed?" He got ready to leave, but felt a tug in his mind. He would feel guilty if he just left her there. He sighed, but slowly and surely picked her up in a bridal style. 

As soon as Scarlett's body felt the position, she immediately cuddled into his chest, her cheek right against it. Levi froze in his movement. He looked down at the girl to see if she was only playing to be asleep and to see if this was a prank, but turned down that idea as soon as he heard some slight snoring from the girl. He sighed and kept walking towards the direction of her room. He carefully opened the door, and headed towards her bed. As he was slowly laying her in her bed, and slowly detaching himself from the female, a hand immediately shot up, grabbing his wrist. A small whimper left her throat mumbling something along the lines of 'cuddle time' making the male falter. _What is it with this girl and cuddling into everything_? He shook his head, and tried to remove his wrist, but for someone who was asleep, she had quite a grip on him. She wouldn't budge, and the harder he tried, the tighter she would grip. A groan of frustration left his throat as he glared at the female in the bed. Her curls caught his attention again. It framed her face nicely. The serene look placed itself once again on her face. Without even thinking, he reached a hand down, ever so lightly touching the curls framing her face. It was soft. He could tell she had thick hair, but it was still soft. He tugged on a curl slightly, making the girl hum and move her head a bit, but stayed asleep. He chuckled a bit seeing the curl bounce back in place after he let go of it. He brushed her hair lightly again, but accidentally brushed her cheek with the palm of his hand. He froze waiting for the female to wake up, then let out a sigh of relief when she didn't wake up. For some odd reason he couldn't help himself. He cupped her cheek, feeling her warm and soft skin under his cold and roughed up hand. It felt nice... something he didn't want to admit to himself. The grip on his wrist loosened as he watched her hand fall to her side, still asleep, with a small smile on her face. He quickly removed his hand and backed up.

_What the hell am I doing_?! He growled to himself. He never did shit like that and he didn't like it. Why was it that whenever he was alone with this girl, no this woman, he seemed to act ever so differently? What the hell was she doing to him? He scoffed a bit and started to exit her room. As he was shutting the door, he heard three words that made him freeze.

"Good night Erwin..." She had mumbled in her sleep.

He didn't know why but he felt a ping of jealously. Why did he feel jealous? She had thought it was Erwin putting her in her bed. That would explain why she cuddled up to him, and smiled at his touch. She thought it was Erwin. He guessed the blond Commander put her to bed a lot, and that's why she had thought it was him. That explained everything, almost. It didn't explain to him why he felt this weird feeling of jealously? It didn't explain to him why he acted differently with the female around. Whatever it was, he didn't like it. He shook his head, and closed her door, heading to his own room, to try to get some sleep. He wanted to see if sleep would rid his mind of this weird emotion called 'jealousy'. He wanted sleep to drown his thoughts of his enemy, or friend, or fellow soldier, whatever she was... the one and only, Scarlett Margaux.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of a filler, but I wanted the two wire squads to interact a bit uwu Put some very light Levi x Scarlett moments in there too. In the next few chapters though,I will slowly be getting into the actually AOT storyline, and things will get very interesting... very interesting. Then it’ll probably go back to my own thing.
> 
> Also, Levi may finally get the beat down he deserves as well! Who knows *shrugs* But just to let you know, Levi x Scarlett won't be getting together for a while because they need to go through some shit I have planned first 🤔. They both gotta suffer first, lol. (#sorrynotsorry) But I promise that everything that happens before they get together is all to make them closer when they do they together. I apologize in advance, but I swear you'll understand why!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One last dinner with the cadets before their graduation.

About two months had gone by, and everyone had now been accustomed to the presence of the Margaux Squad. The Margaux Squad had already gotten used to being out in the open again and they enjoyed it. Sure they liked when they were running around hiding, but being able to meet more people and help them just made them feel a joy they couldn't feel while hiding. They didn't have to hide their identities anymore. They could be themselves again. They loved it, and everyone else loved their presence as well. They might be an elite squad, but they were everyone's friend. They played pranks, and they trained hard. If they weren't laughing, they were helping a soldier or a cadet. Everyone knew they were tough; they all witnessed that in the training sessions or just by the power that seemed to seep off the five members of the Margaux Squad. They were such an inspiration to everyone. Erwin's decision to reveal them was one of the best decisions he had ever made, and he had no ounce of regret in his mind. Neither did the Margaux Squad.

 

* * *

 

"I can't believe my little cadets are finally graduating," Scarlett whimpered wiping imaginary tears from her eyes.

"They grow up so fast," Wolfram added, sniffing a bit for dramatic effect.

"We may never see some of them again," Mirja added, fake crying.

Arnoldo rolled his eyes at his childish squad, while Ken only quietly chuckled.

"H-Hey! We can still see each other right? Even if some of us join the other branches?" Armin asked with doubt.

"Possibly. We don't really mess with the Military Police because well let's just say they're not happy the Corps hid us for so long. As for the Garrison, we've actually helped them out since we've come out of hiding so we would be able to see each other there. Then if you join the Corps, we'll for sure be seeing each other," Arnoldo informed.

"... So if I join the Military Police, we may not see each other again?" Jean asked looking at his superiors.

"Most likely. Jean, my boy, are you trying to say you're going the MP? With your skill?" Scarlett asked a hand on her hip.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Why?"

"I'm not dumb. Being in the Military Police is the best option where you can live inside Wall Sina safely," Jean explained not even noticing the glare the female captain was giving him because of the selfish answer he had given.

"W-What he means is that he wants to help protect the King!" Marco quickly corrected, hitting his ashy blonde haired friend behind the back.

"Marco? You're going to try to join the MP too?" Mirja asked, a bit shocked.

"Yeah... It'd be an honor to protect and serve the king," Marco gave a smile, letting know the superiors in front of him know his reason wasn't selfish like his friend.

"I see... Well we wish you luck with that. You're both very skilled soldiers and I am almost positive you two made it into the top ten," Arnoldo gave a small smile.

"Thank you," Marco grinned, and Jean nodded.

"Well then..." Wolfram rubbed his neck, "Guess this will be our final training session with all you cadets. After the training, we have agreed to treating you all to one final dinner by us, or well cooked by Arnoldo," he laughed, "So remember! Train hard this one last time! Show us what fine soldiers you all are now!"

"Yes sir!" The cadets around him saluted, yelling in excitement.

"Well then," Ken spoke rubbing his hands together, "Let's get started. Warm up with ten laps. Don't overdo it though because we will be doing races with prizes for the winners."

Immediately the cadet's eyes shone with excitement. This was their last time training together with the famous Margaux Squad, and even though the squad trained them hard, it was always worth it.

 

* * *

 

It was now five o'clock in the afternoon, and the Margaux Squad was about to teach the cadets some tricks to do with their horses. They had all just taken a fifteen minute break, so no one was really truly tired.

"Alright cadets!" Scarlett grinned, petting her horse's mane, "Go to your horse and hold 'em!"

Immediately each cadet got to their horse, swiftly getting on-top of their designated animal.

"Bott, what are you doing?" Arnoldo asked, looking at Marco who had a hand on Jean's face.

"You said 'hold your horses'," Marco spoke with a serious face, but a small smile on his mouth, "I'm holding mine."

Jean's eyes went wide in realization, "Marco! How dare you?!"

"Told you that you like like a horse horse-face!" Eren laughed. Everyone was basically laughing, except for Ken and Mikasa. Arnoldo was even chuckling.

"Shut up your bastard!" Jean growled, "Don't make me embarrass you in front of the Margaux Squad one last time!"

"Guys, this is no time for fighting," Scarlett laughed, "Marco please hold your actual horse," Marco chuckled and left going to his horse, "If anything, Jean is my cute horse."

"S-Scarlett!" Jean yelled his cheeks flushed in embarrassment, only making the red-haired female laugh.

"Hey, I thought you enjoyed it when I flirted with you?" She chuckled, "Enjoy it while it lasts Kirstein. I may not see you again~"

"Just be lucky Scarlett's here Jean, otherwise I would be the one knocking you down," Eren warned.

Before Jean had a chance to retort, Wolfram smacked both Jean and Eren upside the head, "No more arguing! Time to train cadets!"

"S-Sir!" They replied rubbing their heads.

"Now that that's settled," Arnoldo spoke, "Here's what to do when you feel like being a little flashy. This is a move that uses little gas because you're using the momentum of your horse. It all depends on how you and your horse get along as well, so listen up..." he continued with the explanation and later giving them a demonstration. Their training continued until before the sun had set. The Margaux Squad sent everyone to clean up and get ready to enjoy a nice dinner before their actual gradation.

 

* * *

 

"I'm going to miss Arnoldo's cooking!" Sasha whined then stuffed her face with more food, "It's the most delicious thing I've ever tasted!"

"Agreed!" Connie nodded his head, chewing happily.

"I'm glad we were able to meet them, and actually get close to them. They're another inspiration of mine to becoming a great soldier," Eren spoke after swallowing.

"They really are an inspiration huh...?" Armin asked himself, "What do you think Mikasa?"

"They're... They're great people. They're not selfish. They honestly want to help people be better version of themselves whether or not they're joining the Corps or not..." Mikasa spoke quietly while the rest of the table agreed with them.

"Hey," Reiner spoke up, "Where the hell is the Margaux Squad anyway? I thought they were going to join us for dinner?"

As soon as he finished talking, the cafeteria doors slammed open. Scarlett walked in and Wolfram followed who were both holding wood boxes full of... bottles? 

"Are you seriously doing this? Are you sure Keith wasn't just talking shit?" Arnoldo groaned.

"Keith was the one that challenged us!" Scarlett announced putting her box down at the table where her squad and Keith usually sat.

"We made a bet. Whoever gets drunk and passes out first loses. Loser is running laps for two days, not consecutively though since we're all adults with jobs or so he said. Winner gets bragging rights and a prize of their choice from the losers."

"...... So Mirja and I will be the ones judging aren't we?" Ken asked.

"Wait why won't I be judging?" Arnoldo asked.

"You'll be drinking to distract yourself from those two," Mirja laughed pointing to Scarlett and Wolfram.

"Erwin will kill us if we come back to the HQ drunk you guys," Arnoldo warned.

"Shhhh," The female captain covered his mouth with her hand, "I already made us arrangements. I got some soldiers from the HQ to drive us in a carriage back home. By then we'll most likely be passed out so Erwin will only think we're exhausted. He can be oblivious so he won't be able to tell we fell asleep drunk. That's if Mike isn't there when we get back. Mike will sniff the alcohol off us if he's there."

"Well I told the soldiers to sneak us in," Mirja laughed, "Used my cute face to convince them to help us. They said sure."

"Great! Let's get Keith and get this shit started,"

Scarlett smirked and walked out with Wolfram.

The cadets just watched and listened in confusion. They were going to drink? Against Keith? _**KEITH DRINKS** (But who could blame him with them as cadets) **?!**_   Before they even knew it, the other fellow training soldiers were cheering on the three that were drinking. The cadets had somehow joined in the show and watched their superiors with awe. The three were just downing drinks like it was nothing. As Keith chugged a whole cup down, Wolfram was chugging down a whole pitcher, and Scarlett was finishing one bottle, quickly grabbing another one.

"You can do it Scar! Show Shadis whose boss!" Eren cheered pumping his fist up.

"S-Shut cadet!" Keith slurred on his words, and then grabbed another cup.

Wolfram laughed and almost fell backwards on his seat, slurring his words, "K-Keith can't even talk...okay?"

"You can't either man," Ken chuckled patting the black haired male's back.

"W-Wow... How much can they drink?" Armin asked worried.

"You'd be surprised," Mirja grinned, "Oh! I put my bet on Keith!" She yelled slapping down some money on the table.

"Tch," Ken chuckled putting down money, "Scarlett."

Arnoldo was drinking his own glass but placed money down, "Wolfram."

One by one, soldiers and cadets started placing their bets with either money or items while the other three kept drinking non-stop. To the cadets, it was a once of a lifetime chance of even seeing Keith drink and acting quite stupid. They would never forget this moment. A drunk Keith, Scarlett, and Wolfram with a tipsy Arnoldo was just a sight no one would forget.

 

* * *

 

It was a little past midnight now, and a carriage had just arrived back at the HQ building. Ken and Mirja were helping the soldiers take Wolfram, Arnoldo, and Scarlett down but everyone was struggling. They were all trying to be quiet, but Wolfram would occasionally yell in his sleep, Arnoldo would murmur useless facts to whoever was trying to help him, and Scarlett was still awake and fully drunk.

"M-Ma'am," A soldier spoke quietly to Mirja, "Commander might have heard Wolfram's yelling by now."

"Shh don't jinx us," Mirja whispered helping Ken hold Scarlett.

"We just have to get in quick. We may still have a chance," Ken added, his usual quiet voice quieter now.

Scarlett hiccuped, almost punching a soldier on instinct when he tried to grab her, "C-Commander? Commander is here?! Erwin!"

"S-Scarlett shush!" Mirja quickly covered her mouth then pulled her hand away as soon as a wet muscle touched her hand, "Scarlett! Ew!"

The red-haired female only laughed and hugged Ken and Mirja close, "I love you guys... my little buddies... so cute~"

Ken gave Mirja a look for yelling, "Erwin is going to have our heads. He definitely heard us by now and if not him, one of the others like Levi, Hanji, or Mike."

"Well you're not wrong," A deep voice spoke making the soldiers and the two non-drunk Margaux Squad panic. Wolfram fell to the ground with a thud, groaning a bit, but stayed asleep, the ground now his bed. Arnoldo slowly slid to the ground, leaning on a soldiers legs, half-asleep. Scarlett was almost dropped, but Ken quickly wrapped an arm around her waist preventing her from falling. She leaned her head on his shoulder hiccuping. The soldiers quickly saluted, fearing for their punishment. Mirja only gave a goofy grin, rubbing her neck. Erwin stood with his arms crossed, eyeing the two males on the ground. His icy blue eyes then slowly scanned over to the female, his eyes full of confusion and slight annoyance. Levi stood to the left of him while Hanji stood to the right of him. Levi had a scowl on his face while Hanji was trying to hold back laughter, like usual.

"I hate that I have to ask this but... what exactly is going on?" Erwin eyed Mirja.

Mirja laughed nervously, "Well you know how we were training the cadets one final time today right? Well we also decided to have a dinner to celebrate their soon to be graduation. Well... then Keith challenged Scar and Wolfram in a drinking contest and Keith and Wolfram both lost. Scarlett won. Keith is out-cold on a cafeteria table as we speak and you can see our members..." she explained with a small smile.

"And Arnoldo?" Erwin asked.

"You know how he is. He was stressed he had do deal with these idiots so he drank to try to ignore them," Ken explained.

Erwin ran a hand down his face, "So they're drunk out of their minds?"

"N-No!" Scarlett retorted, "I am p-perfectly fine!" She looked right at Erwin and froze for a bit, "... Why is there three Erwins?"

Erwin face-palmed, "Lettie? What's my last name?"

Scarlett looked at him with a face of determination then spoke, "Squirmy." As soon as she finished, Hanji and Mirja burst out in laughter. Scarlett's face was full of confusion, "Isn't it Squirmy?"

Ken looked at Erwin, "Can you help Wolfram to his room? And can someone else hold Scarlett while I help a soldier with Arnoldo? Mirja isn't being very much help right now."

Mirja continued laughing, "She said squirmy... oh my god. Commander Squirmy! I'm dying!" She was holding her stomach in pain, some tears of laughter escaping her eyes.

Erwin sighed but nodded and walked over to Wolfram, helping the tall boy up. Wolfram was out-cold where he just leaned against Erwin. Blue eyes looked over at Levi, "You can hate me later but pick up Scarlett and take her to her room. Like Ken said, Mirja and Hanji will be no help right now."

Levi let out a small groan but headed towards Ken, "Give me her."

Amber eyes looked at the black haired male, a small smile on her face, "Oh it's the cute one~" Levi's face stayed expressionless, but he felt his cheeks warm up a bit. She tried to escape out of Ken's arms, but failed making her pout, "I wanna go to him! Levi right? Hold me!" She whined.

Ken leaned into Scarlett's ear and whispered something not even Levi could hear. Scarlett immediately calmed down, and just waited. Ken carefully handed Scarlett to Levi, while Levi easily carried her in both arms, an annoyed look on his face.

"You're a brat you know that," Levi snarled a bit, looking at the female in his arms. The female only groaned a bit, snuggling her face in his chest, trying to ignore the headache she was finally starting to feel.

"But am I your brat~?" She teased looking at him.

Levi looked at her like she was crazy. He looked around to see if anyone else heard what she said, but Erwin was already gone with Wolfram. Ken was walking inside the building with the help of another soldier, both holding Arnoldo. Then Mirja and Hanji were still laughing their asses off from the 'Commander Squirmy' comment. The other soldiers had also left already. Cold gray eyes glared at the amber eyed girl, "Look Margaux. You need to keep your trap shut."

A small smirk placed itself on her face, "Or else what Ackerman?"

"Don't make me slap that smirk off you-," he started but stopped as soon as a hand was softly placed on his cheek, "What are you doing Margaux?"

She hiccuped a bit, and tilted his head a bit to make him look at her, "You talk too much..." Before he had a chance to retort, Scarlett leaned up while also pulling his face closer, and placed her lips on his.

Levi's eyes widened in shock, too shocked to do anything. She moved her lips softly against his, before pulling away and hiccuped, "I like you, you jerk..." She confessed before placing her head on his chest, droopy eyes finally closing. A few seconds later, her breathing was even, the scent of alcohol finally hitting Levi's nose. _Right... she's drunk_ , he thought to himself.

Someone cleared their throat and Levi quickly looked up, glaring at the person that made the noise. Mirja and Hanji both had sly smirks on their faces, the two girls giving each other a high five. Finally Hanji spoke, "So, still going to say you don't like her?"

"She's drunk. She clearly doesn't know what she's doing or saying," Levi growled, tilting his head to the side so they couldn't see the small tinge of red on his cheeks.

"I wouldn't be so sure Levi~," Mirja teased, "You know what they say. Kids and drunk people are very truthful."

"Shut up," Levi warned and glared at the female in his arms, "No fucking decency I swear to god. Know your limits."

"Levi? You didn't take her to her room yet?" Erwin walked out, eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh! Well you see! Levi was too busy kis-" Hanji started but her mouth was covered by a grinning Mirja.

"Sorry sorry. We were holding him back. Nothing happened," Mirja smiled, "Well. Have a good night Erwin!" She ran off pulling the brown haired scientist with her.

"Okay then..." Erwin sighed, "Here I'll take her to her room. Sorry about this trouble," he easily put the female captain in his arms, the female quickly snuggling up to his chest, "Have a good night Levi."

"Yeah..." Levi mumbled and walked away, multiple thoughts going through his head.

 _Did she really mean that? Of course she didn't! She's fucking drunk!_ Levi combed his hair with his hand, letting out a small growl as he walked to his room. It's not like he cared about what she had said... or did he? Why did he freeze at the feeling of her soft plump lips on his? Why did his heart beat rapidly with her drunk confession? He groaned as he walked in his room, slamming the door shut and locking it. _STOP IT LEVI! She was drunk off her horse. She was just talking shit. Fucking brat loses her mind because she had one too many drinks. Yeah that's what it was._

He tried to forget the words the red-haired female said, but he couldn't. Every time he tried to forget it, his heart ached just a bit... but why? It's not like he liked her. He could never. Romantic feelings were for the weak, and it was just a big waste of time. Besides, the life that he and she lived wouldn't be ideal for a relationship. Either would end up hurt or dead. He couldn't like her. He wouldn't allow himself to even if some tiny part of him wanted to. Sure, she made him angry and annoyed, but she was one of the few people that was able to excite him, and somehow make him smile. He enjoyed spending time with her whether it was competing during training, or just drinking tea together. She got under his skin, but he got under hers too. He had a cold attitude, and she had a warm attitude that would always make them clash, but sometimes merge. To him she could be annoying and could be the cause for his headache, but she was also strong. She was a selfless person who cared for others. She wanted others to be in their best state of mind, physically or mentally, even if it meant working them to the bone. Working them until they were covered in bruises and sweat, but to only turn around with a giant grin followed by a 'good job'. This woman made him lose his cool, but yet somehow always intrigued him. The fact she had such a soft spot for Erwin and her Squad showed she had a heart of gold.

 _"I like you you jerk..."_ Those five words played over and over again in his head like a broken record.

"Stupid brat..." he groaned a bit, the corners of his mouth slightly going up, whispering to himself to test out the words, " _My stupid little brat..._ "

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it!  
> The Babysitting AU is up and running now by the way!
> 
> You can check it out here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17322296
> 
> Thanks for reading and as always, let me know what you think~


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's a what?

It was dark in the Underground. The only sources of light was from the lanterns that hung here and there. Though that didn't help much as it was nighttime as well. The moonlight dimly lit the stairs that led to the dreaded city below the capital city of Mitras. In the city where people were working, committing crimes, or simply just trying to survive. Five hidden figures were on top of one building as their black cloaks slightly flow in the breeze.

"This is our third and last night here. By tomorrow mid-day we should be out of here... once this mission is complete of course," Scarlett spoke quietly, standing on the edge of the building, ready to jump off, "Any questions?"

"What if they try to run?" Mirja asked, adjusting her hood.

"Do as always. Let them feel the pain they have inflicted on their victims," Wolfram spoke with a grin, stretching his arms a bit.

"As usual make it look like other criminals did it. Can't have any eyes on us especially now," Arnoldo advised.

"When have we ever left evidence it was us?" Ken questioned quietly with a small smirk behind his face mask.

Scarlett chuckled a bit, "Enough talk. I want to go home. Let's find those bastards and get this over with." And with that she jumped, only to land gracefully on the floor then darted away elsewhere. The four figures on top of the building followed in her steps except they broke off in different directions.

The Margaux Squad was currently underway in one of their personal Undercover assignments. Not one that involved Titans, but the horrible and heartless people that lived safely inside the walls. It had been a while since they had done one this long, and they were thankful their blonde Commander gave them permission. They had been hearing rumors about a gang in the Underground that was causing some major trouble so it was their duty to take care of them. They were the only ones that could because the Military Police would not actually do something productive to help. They could only make things worse. The assignment was simple: eliminate said gang. Eliminate them meant to scare and beat the shit out of them until they swore they'd never do it again or if they were really stubborn, to just kill them. Simple as that. The only reason this assignment was taking three days was because the first two was to basically watch said gang to see how they acted. After observing how they were, and evaluating their 'skills' the third night was a-go. They needed to be taken care of whether they liked it or not.

 

* * *

 

"MHMMMM," Mirja groaned loudly stretching her back, "Man that took a bit."

"Stubborn bastards was what they were. They deserved what they got," Wolfram yawned, fixing his ponytail.

"Let's just go home. I need a nice long warm shower," Scarlett whined.

"Well we are in Wall Sina," Arnoldo started, "We can go somewhere nice to eat before we leave. We deserve that much."

"I agree with Arnoldo," Ken added quietly.

It was around noon, and their assignment was finally over. They had already removed their disguises which were now packed away securely in their bags. Now they were in messy casual clothes. Messy only because they had run into a small fight after completing their assignment. They all wanted to go home, get clean, and take some long deserved rest, but unknowingly to them, that wouldn't happen for a while.

After a few minutes of walking, Ken had been on alert as soon as he heard panicked whispering of the civilians around them. He glared at the ground trying to figure out what exactly was going on, but decided to speak up, "Scarlett."

"Hm?" The red haired girl looked over, putting her hair in a messy bun.

"Something's going on. Something bad. I heard people talking about an attack. We should leave now and see what's going on," the violet eyed male spoke quietly.

"What?" Amber eyes looked at him confused.

"An attack? From what? Titans? Erwin would have notified us wouldn't he?" Wolfram asked confused as well. Mirja only furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, while looking at Ken.

"Time to find out then," Arnoldo spoke as he walked to a random Military Police soldier near them, "Excuse me, but what's going on?"

"What do you want?! Can't you see we're busy?!" The soldier growled.

Scarlett immediately glared at him, "I'd watch my mouth if I was you. We may just be more superior than you soldier. Now answer the damn question. What's going on? What's all this talk about an attack?"

Immediately the soldier looked down at the ground, speaking in fear, "Wall Rose has been breached... The Colossal Titan reappeared again and disappeared soon after... Trost District is under heavy attack as we speak. The evacuation is still underway."

The five people in front of the soldier were frozen. _Wall Rose had been breached? Why weren't they alerted? Was this really happening again?_ Before the soldier even asked them why civilians like them cared, the five of them all ran in one direction. They ran until they arrived at their 'safe house'. Forget getting a shower and eating some food, they were needed— NOW. They all changed into their uniforms and gear as quickly as they could, and left the safe house all under fifteen minutes. Civilians and soldiers gasped in awe or shock seeing the Survey Corps logo on their clothes as they zipped away from building to building. They didn't care if they were damaging buildings in the beloved city of Mitras. They only cared about helping the people in Trost.

 

* * *

 

 **Titans.** _Everywhere._ In _THEIR_ territory. The five stood almost rigid on top of a tall building with pathetic Titans trying to climb their way up. They had made it from Mitras to Trost in under forty minutes. They used a third of their gas tanks just going from Mitras to the Wall of Sina itself, but the travel from from the Wall Sina to Trost was all on leg power alone. They didn't even think about getting horses. Their legs would do just the same or better in fact. Once reaching Wall Rose and seeing the hordes of civilians and soldiers running amuck, they knew this was serious. Everything was going to hell again... _just like it did three years ago._ Random soldiers from the other branches couldn't even tell who the figures were since they were moving too fast. They ignored the Military Police soldiers and Garrison soldiers who tried yelling to them to 'stop' and 'that they didn't have the authority' or even 'you'll get yourself killed' comments and simply shot their wires to the top of the Wall and flew over it like it was nothing. Now they stared at the horror in the city they all knew too well. 

They observed cadets here and there, too afraid or too shocked. Some were frozen not even attempting to fight. Just frozen or trying to hide. They looked around and saw death. Death of civilians and soldiers, but there was just one issue... all the soldiers had the Garrison or training corps logo. Where were the Survey Corps? _Where the hell were they in this time of need?_

Amber eyes glared at one of the Titans trying to reach up trying to eat them. A scowl set on her face, eyes filled with a burning rage that it could almost set the Titan itself on fire. Slowly raising a blade, her tone was harsh and deadly, "Let's fucking clean this shit up. I'm sure the evacuation must be done by now. We just have to get rid of these **things**."

Once she heard the unsheathing of blades, she knew they were all ready. Without another word, they all shot their wires out, all spreading out to cover more ground. No one needed to say anything to know what to do. They weren't an elite squad for nothing after all.

 

* * *

 

"It's clear over here. For now. Seen any civilians?" Arnoldo asked, looking over at the steaming and disappearing bodies of the giant creatures.

"No..." Ken quietly responded, "They're either dead or got out in the evacuation..."

"I can't believe this... This shit is happening and we weren't even notified..." Wolfram growled running a hand through his now loose hair, "Where the fuck is the Corps?! Where the fuck is Erwin?!"

"W-Wolfram... Maybe we just haven't run into them yet...?" Mirja asked hesitantly, trying to sound hopeful.

"No. They're not here," Scarlett practically snarled, "I don't know where they are, but they're not here. Every dead soldier here is either from the Garrison... or a freshly graduated cadet or from the training corps..." her voice quieted a bit, biting her lip. She had recognized some of the cadets faces. Faces of those they had the honor to train. Now they were gone. She sighed and spoke again, "I don't know what happened and we probably won't find out until later, but for now, search for any survivors or injured. You know what to do if you spot someone who needs help."

Just as the rest of the squad nodded, getting ready to leave yet again, a loud thundering yell was heard from the opposite side of where they were currently at. It wasn't a Titan, that they were almost positive and it wasn't human, that they all knew for sure. It sounded like an enraged animal ready to kill anything in its way. A yell filled with so much anger. One look at each other was all it took. They stayed as a group and all headed towards the location of the yell. In not even five minutes, they were almost to the location when the 'thing' yelled again.

"I-Isn't that Armin?!" Mirja asked almost desperately, pointing forward as they flew past buildings.

"It is. Let's go see if he's with anyone else," Arnoldo advised and they all sped up a bit, to only lose sight of him for about fifteen seconds, then resurface as he landed on a random roof but now with another figure.

"Mikasa?" Wolfram asked. Soon after another figure arrived on the roof.

"Connie?" Arnoldo asked now almost shocked.

"Let's go," Scarlett sternly ordered and in the next few seconds, they landed on the same roof as the cadets.

"C-Captain!" The three quickly stood, saluting, but dropped it as soon as the red haired female gave them all a 'look'.

"It's nice to see familiar faces again," Mirja spoke almost relieved.

"That aren't dead..." Ken added quietly looking down at his feet.

"I'm not even going to ask what's going on. Let's get you all to safety. Any others of you that need help?" The female captain crossed her arms waiting for an answer, but before Armin even had the chance to speak Connie spoke.

"Damn! Two fifteen meter Titans!" He cursed, fear evident in his eyes.

The Margaux Squad looked over noticing that one did look different than what they're used to seeing but nonetheless raised their blades that were ready to kill until the black haired female spoke up.

"No, that one is..." Mikasa drifted off staring at the 'abnormal' Titan.

It yelled again. It wasn't human but it wasn't Titan like either and it put the Squad on edge. As if the situation wasn't confusing enough, the same Titan got into a fighting stance and the next thing they knew the normal Titan's head has crashed into a random building ways away.

"What the fuck..." Wolfram groaned under his breath, "WHAT THE FUCK DID WE COME UP TO?!"

On instinct, Arnoldo smacked the black haired male over the head, "Nows no time to be dramatic. No matter how weird this situation is..." He lingered and froze as he watched the abnormal do finishing stomp on the normal one's nape.

"It knows the vulnerable spot for Titans?" Armin asked confused and shocked.

"I... what... what is going on?" Mirja stared at the scene, and if she was a little honest, she felt a bit scared. They've never seen an abnormal like that who killed their own... Titans. She snapped out of her small daze as soon as a warm hand was placed on her shoulder. Ken only gave her shoulder a light squeeze assuringly, making the female smile just a bit.

"We have to move before it heads this way! Cap— Scar come on let's go!" Connie practically begged.

"But... it shows no response to us at all..." Armin spoke, "It could have attacked us a while ago but it didn't."

"I sense it knows martial arts... What's going on?" That was the first time the Squad ever heard the female Ackerman sound confused.

"It's just a unique abnormal! Right Arnoldo?! Anyway! We should head black to HQ! Everyone will feel so relived once they see you guys!" Connie yelled hopefully, looking at the squad.

"B-But Mikasa's out of gas!" Armin announced.

"Easy fix..." Ken spoke as he unequipped his gas tanks and handed them over to Mikasa, "They're practically full. I don't really need them."

"To hell you do! There is still Titans lurking around!" Wolfram almost growled un-equipping one of his tanks and gave it to Ken, "I carried a spare tank just in case one of us needed it."

"O-Oh wait!" Mirja shot away disappearing for a minute then came back an almost sorrowful look on her usual happy face, "I had seen a few fallen soldiers on our way here. This tank sounds about half full. Should be enough for you Wolfram."

"Thanks..." the male nodded a bit to her all of them equipping again.

"Whatever that thing is, we need to leave. You said HQ right? Let's go help them," Scarlett ordered the handed Mikasa two spare blades, "Here these should last until we're done here."

"Armin, here you go. You can't be left behind either," Arnoldo then have Armin two spare blades as well.

"Mikasa... now that they're here... you don't have to worry so much now ok? But please... use your equipment wisely now... you want to help save everyone too right?" Armin spoke looking at Mikasa. The latter only looked at him as if she realized something.

"Enough chit chat," Scarlett's voice was stern and the two cadets that were almost sitting quickly stood up, "No one else is going to get hurt or die now that we're here..." Her voice soothed down a bit as she gave the three cadets a warm smile, "Now let's go ok?" Again, just as they were about to leave, the blond male spoke up.

"W-Wait! I have an idea," He spoke almost confidently but the captain could easily hear his hesitation. He continued as soon as he caught the attention of Scarlett and Arnoldo, "You guys would have to do this, so it's up to you if you want to do it, but just listen to me. I know it sounds crazy, but I think we can use that Titan. It shows no interest in us, and we may just be able to lead it to the supply depot. If it kills the other Titans, we may all just be saved!"

"You say 'lead it', but how the hell would we do that?!" Connie asked.

"I think it's fighting on instinct. All of you need to kill the Titans around it so it will make it search for new Titans to kill. From there it'll be naturally drawn to the HQ where a lot of Titans are right now," the blond continued.

"We can't do this solely on 'what if'! Scar say something! Arnoldo?!" Connie looked towards his two superiors.

Scarlett had an eyebrow raised, as she listened to the blond. She had already sensed he was the strategic type and this proved it. She looked towards Arnoldo, who only nodded with a small smile.

"Hmph... Continue Armin," She urged on.

"If it works all the Titans around HQ can be taken care of!" He finished.

"I think it's worth a try," Mikasa spoke up.

"HUH?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Connie yelled in shock.

"I'd rather take that chance than wait to die," the three eldest in the Margaux Squad smirked a bit at Mikasa's choice of words. It reminded them of well them. "I'm all for Armin's idea."

"HUH?! Captain?! Anything?!

"Once again Connie, its Scarlett or Scar," she sighed almost annoyed but chuckled nonetheless, "We're all for it, but if you're so chicken, you can just hide behind the safety of us ok~?"

"I-I'm not afraid!" Connie groaned, "Fine... We'd look pretty stupid if this doesn't work though."

"But if it works, we'll save everyone," Armin smiled, happy that not only his friends but his superiors approved of his idea.

"Quick question though, Arlert are you doubting our skills? Think we can't take out all these Titans? We could easily do it in five minutes but it sounds like you have no hope for us," Scarlett questioned the blond, and though it sounded rude, she was actually teasing.

"H-Huh?! N-No! I m-mean... if that's the case then we don't have to do my idea! I-I'm not doubting you all at all!" He quickly bowed in apology.

"She's joking man," Wolfram pat the male roughly on the back, "We're all in for your plan but on one condition."

"Which is...?"

"You three will do it," Arnoldo crossed his arms looking at the cadets, "We want to see what you're made of. We'll stick in the background and kill any lingering Titans as you guys make your way back to the HQ. You make sure to lead that thing successfully, and we'll be right behind you alright?"

"B-But..." Armin was nervous. Why were they putting so much confidence in his plan.

"It'll be fine. You're smart Armin," Mirja grinned holding onto the male's shoulders, "Mikasa and Connie are counting on you ok? And we are too! So don't let us down!"

"R-right!" Armin smiled, a small blush on his face.

"Mikasa whenever you're ready," Ken spoke and not soon after Mikasa zipped away, followed by Armin then Connie.

As the three figures retreated away, Scarlett finally let out a long sigh, "I hope his theory is correct. As much as I trust the kid, it's that thing I don't trust," she put her hair in a better bun as a small smile placed itself on her lips, "But for now, let's help them as much as we can. Got it?"

"Ready when you are _Captain_ ," Wolfram teased only earning a roll of eyes.

"Then let's kill some fucking Titans!" Scarlett grinned almost evilly as she zipped away, followed by the rest of her squad. They stayed a good distance away to where they were far enough so the three cadets could do their own thing, but close enough to where they could swoop in if anything was to go wrong.

Time flew by quick. When the Squad reunited again on another roof, they witnessed the three cadets crashing through windows in the HQ. They were amazed to say the least. Armin's plan had worked. The thing was now fighting the Titans around the HQ.

"Hm... I knew he was a smart one," Arnoldo almost grinned at the thought.

"Let's go. We told them we'd be with them," Scarlett shot her wires out, killing a Titan, a smirk plastering on her lips, as she flew in swiftly through an already broken window, "Hell to the fucking yeah Armin! Your plan worked!"

"C-Captain?!" Cadets that were hidden away in the room they were all in, stared in awe and shock.

"Scarlett!" A voice whined before flying in, "Wait for us at least!" Mirja landed right next to her cousin, a hand on her hip, a small pout on her lips.

"She wanted to congratulate Armin was all," Arnoldo who was now inside and beside Scarlett calmly spoke with a smile.

"Damn all of you were in here?" Wolfram's loud voice almost scared the cadets.

"Hmph..." No one could see it but Ken was smiling under his mask. Seeing the shocked, confused, and even happy faces of the cadets in front of them made him feel renewed yet again.

"T-The Margaux Squad?! How'd you find them?!" Jean asked.

"More like we found them," Scarlett answered, "We were just finishing a mission in Wall Sina when we heard the commotion of an attack. Of course we hurried our way here. Are all of you ok?"

"W-We're saved!" Someone yelled. "We don't have to use that Titan!" Then another, "Even that Titan doesn't stand a chance against the Margaux Squad!"

"Oi! Shut up!" Wolfram yelled making all of them get quiet, "We came here believing in Armin's plan which was successful. Yes we could've taken care of the Titans outside but we gave those three a chance to see what they could do, and they sure as hell showed it. You can't solely rely on us. What if we had never even came? What if we were still on our mission? What would you have done then? Huh? You guys have to think for yourself in these situations! I know it's hard, since most of you are new but you need to realize we are at war with them. You can't have doubt in your heart or mind. You have to think like Armin here. And you have to do like Connie and Mikasa. Understood?"

"S-Sir!" Everyone yelled saluting then dropped it.

"Scarlett... are we really going to use that Titan...? It seems crazy doesn't it?" Jean asked.

"Yes. Armin's plan has worked so far, and it still is. Just imagine we're not here alright? As of now, that thing is your best chance of survival. Right Mikasa?" Scarlett looked towards the black haired female.

Mikasa nodded, and Armin smiled just a bit at the confidence that Squad had in them.

"B-But... what if it attacks us? Or the HQ?" Marco asked worried.

"It won't..." Ken spoke quietly, "I can feel it. That thing is too focused on killing Titans alone. Nothing else."

"Besides! That Titan is stronger than ordinary ones! We have nothing to worry about!" Connie encouraged, "Our superiors are counting on us you guys! Do you want to show that you're good for nothing in front of them or what?!"

The Squad only watched the cadets retort their own answers at the short haired male, slightly chuckling at the scene.

"Take it from here guys. We'll be right behind you guys if anything goes wrong," Arnoldo spoke in an almost endearing way, "Show us all what you can all do."

"Sir!" As soon as they acknowledged their superior, they all started planning as the Squad only stayed a bit behind and listened. They were now all in a different room as the Squad leaned against a wall, just listening and watching. They wanted the cadets to do this on their own, their way. It was a sure way of making them learn whether it was a success or a failure. If it was a success, good, if it was a failure, they would step in and save it, but for now, it would be fine. They trusted these cadets.

"Hey... I noticed something... all of the cadets we were closest to are here but... I don't see Eren," Mirja basically whispered looking at Scarlett.

At this, Scarlett opened her eyes and looked at all of the cadets. She recognized all their familiar faces but there was indeed one missing, "Jaeger..."

"Do you think..." Wolfram didn't even finish his sentence as Arnoldo nodded his head.

"Most likely. That would explain why Mikasa and Armin are acting a bit different," the dark brown haired male spoke, "What a shame... I had high hopes for him."

"I'm sure he went out with a bang though," Mirja tried to smile, but the thought of one of her favorite cadets now dead hurt her, "We all know how he was."

"Indeed... He fought honorably," Ken added, slighting stroking Mirja's hair, making the latter smile just a bit.

Time ticked away until their attention was called.

"Scarlett! We're starting our plan! Wish us luck!" Armin smiled a bit, looking at the female captain.

"You won't need it," she chuckled crossing her arms, "It'll work. We heard everything." And with that, the cadets left the room they were in. 

"I hope everything goes fine... how do you think things look outside?" Mirja asked.

"That thing better be beating some Titan ass or else," Scarlett growled, "I'll kill that thing myself. I'm not letting anyone else get hurt."

"I agree," Wolfram nodded and Arnoldo smirked hit a bit.

Ken smiled just a bit and Mirja finally grinned again as she spoke, "I believe in these guys! Everything will be a-ok!"

Again, time seemed to be cruel. To them it didn't feel like it wouldn't pass quick enough. In all honesty, they were getting a bit worried. _Wasn't it an easy task?_ Kill seven Titans. Something they could do in less than a minute... but that was just the thing. **They** could do that, but could these cadets?

"Scarlett!" Armin ran to the room the Squad was in, a happy look on his face, "It worked! We can all refuel on gas now so we can leave!"

The Squad mentally all sighed in relief

"Good job Arlert!" Wolfram ruffled his hair as he walked past the blond, "We knew you guys could do it!"

"T-thank you for believing in us!" Armin bowed.

"I admit we had a small doubt but..." Scarlett smiled, "There's just something about you all that makes us know you'll be ok nonetheless." And with that, the Squad met everyone else as they refueled and resupplied a bit. Everyone got congratulated on their efforts with either gentle pats on the backs from Ken, or Mirja, or hard pats from Wolfram. Scarlett only smiled at all of them, while Arnoldo helped others refuel faster.

Next thing they all knew, everyone was quickly escaping to the safety of the other side of Wall Rose. The Margaux Squad lingered behind everyone because they wanted to make sure everyone got out, and also to take care of any Titans that could have been hiding somewhere.

"Mikasa! We have to go quickly!" They heard Armin yell and zip up to a roof. Then Armin froze when he met up with the female. Thinking something was off, the Margaux Squad followed suit landing on the same roof as Mikasa and Armin. Immediately they were appalled at the sight. The other Titans were eating... that thing.

"What in the actual fuck... cannibalism...?" Wolfram was grossed out, but more of shocked.

"It can't even regenerate," Arnoldo sighed, "Looks like we've seen the last of that thing."

"We could have learned so much with that Titan but now..." Mikasa started.

"If it's eaten completely, we won't learn a damn thing. Let's kill the Titans around it to keep it alive!" Reiner suggested (or was he ordering them?).

"Are you crazy?! We can finally leave! We used it and it's over! Let's go!" Jean yelled, "Am I right Scarlett?"

Scarlett wasn't paying attention. She was too confused. Her eyes were focused on that thing and the Titans that were eating it. She clenched her fists a bit, for some reason feeling angry at that sight. _Was it because that thing actually helped them to only die like this now?_ She didn't know what it was, but for some reason she knew she had to kill the Titans that were eating at it. As she readied her blades, the thing got up, yelling again. There it was again... that inhuman yell that was full of rage.

"T-That's the abnormal that killed Thomas!" Armin yelled, a small crack in his voice.

Even with Titans chewing away on the thing, it still charged forward and chomped down on the abnormal Armin pointed out. It killed said Titan and the others around with its mouth alone. Everyone around them was shocked.

"Save it my ass!" Jean yelled out.

Then the thing fell on its knees and finally crashed down onto the floor, face first. Everyone but Jean stayed watching the thing on the floor.

"Ok that thing is officially a very confusing thing... interesting... but confusing..." Wolfram admitted rubbing his neck almost in embarrassment.

Ken and Arnoldo couldn't help but chuckle at their friend until they heard Armin yell out Mikasa.

"H-He... Is that... is that Eren...?" Scarlett asked hesitantly, seeing said male's body appear from the nape of that... thing.

"B-But Eren... Armin said he got killed!" Jean informed them, as Reiner, Bert, and Annie nodded in agreement.

"That's him alright..." Arnoldo confirmed watching the scene unfold.

Scarlett watched and just the sight of Mikasa crying and hugging Eren close, made her heart feel heavy. She fell back, now sitting on the roof, a long shaky sigh leaving her mouth, "H-He's ok... H-He's somehow alive..." Her eyes teared up, the cries from the black haired female on the ground, tugging at her hearts strings, "He was somehow that thing but... that doesn't matter..." A lone tear slipped out, as she smiled, wiping away said tear, "He's alive and that's all that matters..."

"Scarlett..." Mirja took her cousins hand in hers and smiled, her own eyes a bit watery, "He's ok... and everyone else is safe. No need to worry now right Arnoldo?"

"Right..." Said male pat his captains back gently, as Scarlett finally smiled looking up at the sky.

_Maybe today wasn't such a mess after all..._

 

* * *

 

"Do you have any fucking idea who we are?!" Scarlett yelled, clearly angry at the men in front of her Squad and her that were trying to order them around.

"No! That is exactly why you are to stay here until further notice! Survey Corps or not, we have more power than you!" One man yelled.

"Oh fuck you," Wolfram growled, "I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

"Why should we?! You all came with that Titan freak and we can punish you! We have the authority!" Another yelled.

"Watch it..." Arnoldo snarled.

Ken and Mirja only stood behind the three, arms crossed, waiting. They knew the older three would take of this. Mirja chuckled a bit seeing everyone around them watching intently. The cadets that knew who the Margaux Squad were, watched in fear for the poor Garrison soldiers. None of them had ever seen the three oldest of the Squad so angry. Marco looked over at Mirja worriedly, but Mirja only grinned and mouthed 'they got this'.

"Now do what we say you insolent little Corps!" That did it. Scarlett had stepped forward and had a hand wrapped around the last man’s neck that yelled at them, guns aiming at her immediately.

Her amber eyes full of anger as she squeezed the man's neck a bit. Her voice was cold, and very very **very** threatening, "I am Captain Scarlett Margaux of the Undercover Operations Squad, otherwise known as the Margaux Squad. Or as you pathetic little shits may know, 'the Aliferous Squad'. We work directly under the command of Commander Erwin Smith, and have full permission from our Commander-in-Chief Darius Zackly. These people behind me are my Squad. If it wasn't for my squad, and the cadets that were with us, there would have been more casualties than there already was. A fucking 'nice job' would be greatly appreciated you weak ass soldiers! And to think we got along with the Garrison. Where the fuck is your Commander?! I need to have a word with him."

"L-Let him go! You have no proof you are who you said you are! You could be a fake just using that name to protect that freak!" Another yelled.

"Do you want me to prove it? Do you want me to break his neck like a twig? Or would you prefer for me to feed him to some hungry Titan on the other side of this wall. Huh?!" Everyone could practically feel the intense and scary aura around the female captain.

"Let him go or we'll shoot!" Another threatened again.

"Fucking try me I swear," She snarled and stiffened as soon as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"That is enough. You are to treat Miss Margaux and her Squad as superiors. Not equals nor less— only superiors. We have a very good connection with her Squad in particular and I would very much appreciate it if you didn't make them hate us. Is that clear?" Pyxis voice boomed of authority and all the Garrison soldiers around quickly bowed their heads in embarrassment and fear after yelling a 'yes sir'. "Scarlett... could you let go of my man?"

"I suppose so," she scoffed letting the man fall to the floor gasping for air, "Suck it up you big wuss. If I wanted to choke you, you'd be dead. Now leave my sight before you all regret yelling at us.

"M-Ma'am!" The soldiers that were yelling at them scurried off in fear and Scarlett finally relaxed.

"Lucky you got here. They were about to get a beating," The red haired female crossed her arms, face full of annoyance and anger.

"I understand. I have somewhere to be right now... about that boy you brought in. Make yourselves at home," Pyxis smiled at the Squad, "That place right there has some showers and food if you want to clean up real quick and get some quick food. I'll send someone for you when I need you ok?"

"Thank you," Scarlett nodded. The Commander of the Garrison only smiled and waved them off as he started to leave, "S-Sir wait!"

"Hm?"

"The Survey Corps... where are they? They should have been there to help but we saw none. By any chance do you know where they are?"

"Oh? You didn't hear? They left on an expedition early this morning. Did you not get a message?"

"Ah no... but that would explain it. Thank you. Sorry for holding you back."

"Not a problem my dear. I'll call for you later."

Scarlett only nodded, now glaring at the ground, "Out of all times to not be here..."

"No one knew the Colossal would attack again Scarlett," Arnoldo informed.

"I know that... I mean us... We could have done something... we could have saved people... there wouldn't be so many casualties... If only I didn't assign us this mission we did..."

"Scarlett... No one knew this would happen ok?" Mirja smiled, "It's no ones fault but that damn monster. Now... let's go get cleaned up!" The blond female practically dragged the red head into the building Pyxis pointed to with the three males following behind. Everyone around them especially the cadets were confused. They wanted to know what mission they were doing before coming to Trost. What could they have possibly been doing in Mitras anyway?

 

* * *

 

"Ok I feel ten times much better now that all that filth is off us. Good thing they had some spare clothes for us huh?" Scarlett yawned, eating some bland soup. They were all in some casual clothes plus their Corps jackets on top. They even had the straps and gear on just in case.

"Definitely. I mean I feel kind of weird since we're out of uniform but we can deal until we can officially settle down," Arnoldo agreed drinking water, "What do you think Pyxis needs us for?"

"Maybe he needs our help in something? Hm... I wonder if those three are ok... Especially Eren. If Erwin was here, this would all be solved much faster but with the Garrison in control since the Corps aren't here... who knows what might happen," Mirja spoke, sighing a bit.

"Ma'am!" A Garrison soldier walked to the table where the Squad was sitting at, "I was called here to lead you to Commander Pyxis. Please come with me." This one was at least respectful (probably because Scarlett basically scared the shit out of them earlier).

"Very well. Let's go," Scarlett nodded getting up.

The soldier walked out of the small cafeteria and headed towards another section in the town. The Squad followed behind, not feeling like talking right now. That is until they heard the sound of a cannonball being fired.

"What the fuck?!" Scarlett growled, "What the fuck was that for?"

"I... I don't know ma'am," the soldier bowed his head in shame, "Let's get you quick to Commander a-alright?"

After ten minutes, they were on top of the inner most wall of Trost. There they saw Pyxis and the three cadets a few meters ahead.

"Sir I brought them as asked," the soldier saluted.

"Thank you. You may leave now," Pyxis smiled a bit. The soldier left and immediately the Squad saluted at the Commander in front of them, but soon dropped it as he nodded again, "We have a plan to close the hole in Trost. Would you guys be up for helping? You have all means of saying no since technically you aren't under my command."

Scarlett only chuckled and shifted her weight on one leg, a hand on her hip, "It's alright Pyxis. We don't mind at all. Since Erwin isn't here, you can act as our Commander for the meantime... Plus, we're all up for retaking Trost back."

"Great! Cadet Arlert here had a great idea and we are going through with it," Pyxis smiled yet again.

"Oh really? What exactly is it?" Arnoldo asked.

"I said that Eren can transform into his Titan form, and carry a huge boulder I saw in Trost. If he successfully carries it and blocks the broken gate, it would stop Titans from coming in. Then all we have to do afterwords is kill the remaining ones... B-But again it was just an idea! I don't want anyone getting killed for something I thought of last second!" Armin sounded doubtful as he looked at the ground.

"There you go again doubting yourself kid," Wolfram chuckled, "Your ideas have worked so far. Pyxis, we are witnesses to his ideas being successful."

"Indeed... He's actually quite smart..." Ken quietly asked.

"He doubts himself a lot, but he has a good heart and mind!" Mirja grinned wrapping an arm around the blond male's shoulders, making the latter blush.

Arnoldo nodded, crossing his arms, "Just tell us what to do Pyxis."

"Stay with us until we have everything sorted out. I want you near Cadet Jaeger from now on until this operation is complete. Is that alright?" The Garrison Commander asked with a small hint of hesitance.

"No problem at all," Scarlett smiled, "Let's get this show started hm?"

 

* * *

 

The Margaux Squad walked behind Pyxis and Eren as they walked along the wall. They heard the Commander talking friendly to the cadet, and since it really wasn't none of their business, they talked amongst themselves quietly. They only looked up and laughed seeing Eren spit out the liquid Pyxis let him drink.

"W-what was that...?" Eren coughed handing the flask back to the Commander. The Commander said nothing and only smiled and offered the flask to the Squad behind them. Like usual the three oldest had a sip, the strong liquid giving them a small boost of energy. The other two politely rejected.

After walking for a bit, they stopped to what was basically the center of the wall. Pyxis stood near the edge, arms behind his back as Eren stood tall and strong behind the Commander. The Squad stood behind the two, in relaxed poses. They knew what Pyxis was going to say, so they honestly didn't have to pay much attention. Pyxis yelled loudly to get the attention of all the soldiers down on the ground, making everyone shut up. As he started rambling on with a motivational and kind of threatening speech, Scarlett looked down at the soldiers. She saw the group of cadets they preferred spread everywhere. She could easily see the fear in their faces to what Pyxis was telling them they had to do to seal the gate. She sighed a bit thinking to herself leaning against a wooden box. She just hoped this plan worked. As soon as the gate was sealed, getting rid of the Titans would be no problem.

 

* * *

 

"Margaux Squad!" Pyxis yelled calling the attention of the five members. The five walked over, "You've met my top notch soldiers before right?"

Scarlett looked over at the two males and female, a smirk on her lips, "Yes we have. It was a month ago I believe when you asked us to help train your new soldiers. They felt like picking a fight with my squad only because we were from the Corps."

"T-That's not true! We just didn't know if you were authorized to be there," Rico recalled, her nose twitching in annoyance.

"Then why were you threatening us? You're lucky Pyxis came just in time before you had a taste of Scarlett's wrath," Wolfram chuckled.

"Anyway..." Pyxis cleared his throat, "Ian here will be in command at the field. I want you guys to stick with them up until Eren turns into a Titan. From there on I want you five to protect him at all costs while my three plus Cadet Ackerman linger around to protect you six, thought you might not really need it. Understood?"

"Yessir," Scarlett grinned saluting the Commander, This will be a piece of cake."

"Good," the Commander smiled and left to get ready for the operation.

Before they all knew it, the Elite Troops, the Margaux Squad plus Eren and Mikasa were running along the wall, getting as close as they could to the boulder that would seal the gate.

"Listen Jaeger... a lot of soldiers are going to die in this operation because of you. They're our fellow soldiers, our seniors and juniors in the ranks. Of course as soldiers they're prepared to die but... they aren't voiceless pawns. They have names, they have families, and they have feelings. Alyosha, Dominic, Fine, Isabel, Ludwig, Martina, Guido, Hans... they're all warm-blooded human beings. Some of us have been together since our cadet days. Many of those very people will die today because of you. You have a responsibility to see that they don't die in vain... no matter what happens. So etch that into your spoiled little heart and perform your duty like your life depended on it," Rico spoke on, even catching the attention of the Squad running behind Eren and Mikasa.

Those words sunk deep into their brain because they knew how Rico felt. Hell, they were worried for their cadets that were going to be in the decoy plan, but they also knew this had to be done. Wall Rose had to be sealed in order to take Trost back. They knew people were going to die, they always did... but they would save as many as they could. It was their job to do so. It was one of their reasons to live.

"Here! Quickly!" Ian yelled jumping off the wall and using the gear to land on a roof nearby. "Margaux Squad you know what to do!"

The Squad only nodded as they jumped to another roof, waiting for the operation to start. The Squad zipped behind Eren and Mikasa as the green flare was finally shot up into the sky. The next thing they knew, a huge blast exploded in front of them and what seemed to be like lighting appeared where Eren once was. Then it happened again... that yell. No that roar was what that was. The Squad landed on a roof behind Eren's Titan self as Mikasa stood on one behind him.

"Ackerman! This operation relies on us as well so we're counting on that great soldier you are got it?!" Arnoldo yelled over.

"Sir!" Mikasa nodded, her eyes focused on Eren.

Eren looked back, his now glowing bright green eyes glaring at Mikasa, growling a bit. Before anyone had a chance to react, Eren swung a fist at Mikasa, sending Mikasa flying even though she was able to jump away last second.

"Mikasa!" Mirja yelled getting ready to shoot her wires towards the black haired female.

"Mirja no!" Wolfram growled making the girl freeze.

Eren tried punching at Mikasa again, only for the female to dodge and now land on Eren's face, "Eren?! Don't you recognize me?! It's me, Mikasa! Your... Your family!"

"Ackerman! Get away!" Ian yelled.

"You have to seal that hole with that boulder!" Mikasa yelled, and soon after a red glare was shot into the sky by none other than Rico, "Eren! You're a human being! You're..."

"Ackerman get away!" Ian ordered yet again.

Amber eyes glared at Eren's clenching fists, "Mikasa what the fuck?!" Scarlett quickly shot out, grabbing Mikasa, and landed on a nearby roof just as Eren punched himself in the face. He no longer had hands and part of his face was smashed as well.

"S-Sorry..." Mikasa mumbled staring at Eren's slumped form against the boulder.

"Are you two ok?!" Arnoldo asked, landing beside Scarlett.

"Yeah..." Scarlett stood on the edge of the roof, eyeing Eren's steaming self, "What the hell happened to him...?"

"He's nothing but a stupid Titan like the rest of them!" Mitabi insulted, earning a glare from the Margaux Squad and Mikasa. Sure Eren wasn't acting like himself, but they knew deep down that Eren was still there... somewhere. Something was just terribly off. Then they heard a soldier warning about upcoming Titans making the Squad unveil their blades. "We need to retreat! That kid is not gonna plug the hole."

"We don't have any choice but to leave him here," Rico added, earning a very strong glare from the female Ackerman.

Scarlett growled to herself then looked at Wolfram, Arnoldo, Mirja, and Ken, "Spread out and kill any and every nearby Titan. This isn't over until Ian officially says it is, but we also don't have to wait for orders from Ian. Now go." The four nodded and quickly zipped away in different directions. She only jumped to the roof where Ian, Rico, Mitabi, and Mikasa were at. She stood behind Mikasa, keeping an eye on Eren, listening to their conversation.

"Hey?! What's there to think about? Give us our orders!" Mitabi yelled. His fear annoyed the red haired female and she just wanted to smack some sense into him. "Ian! It's not your fault! It was a shaky plan from the start. It was worth trying and we gave it a chance... alright? Our squads are climbing up the wall!"

The female Captain didn't have to turn around to know Mikasa was charging towards the fearful Garrison member.

"Wait! Calm down Ackerman," Ian started, "Rico, take out..."

"My squad is taking care of the nearby Titans Ian. It would be more helpful if you sent your soldiers further back," Scarlett advised, but soon after her Squad landing on a nearby roof.

"Those Titans are taken care of. Ian since you're in command, we'll let your soldiers take care of the Titans closest to Eren. We're going to head further back to start clearing out the city. Is that alright?" Arnoldo questioned.

"U-Uh... yes that's fine! Do as you please. You are under Scarlett's command not mine either way. I appreciate the help," Ian nodded his head, and with that, the four Margaux members disappeared yet again.

"I'll stay with you Mikasa... ok? I'll help you in any way I can with Eren," Scarlett laid a gentle hand on Mikasa's shoulder.

"Thank you..." Mikasa gave a small smile, and Scarlett now finally saw the new kind of deep cut on the cadets face. _Must have been when Eren first aimed a punch at her... Hm._

"Ian you have got to be kidding me... we need to retreat!" Rico yelled.

"I was put in command here! Shut up and follow my orders!" Ian sounded a bit hesitant, but Scarlett could hear his determination, "We can't leave Jaeger behind unprotected. There will be a small change of plans. We are to protect him until we can bring him back. He represent a rare possibility for humankind. We mustn't abandon him. Unlike us... there is no one to replace him."

"Several people died already because of this so called failed human weapon. You're telling us to bring him back so we can do the same thing all over again?!" Rico yelled and now Scarlett was getting real ticked off. _Could she not see the bigger picture?_

"We have to keep trying... no matter how many people die!" Ian yelled.

As the Garrison soldiers continued their banter, the female captain backed up from them. Rico and Mitabi were pushing her buttons with everything they said, and one more push and she would have to taught them a lesson. Not wanting to do that, she sat on the edge of the roof, observing Eren. 

She took a deep breath a shiver going up her spine. She didn't know how Eren could transform into humanities greatest enemy, but she knew in her heart that Eren didn't know either. He was one only cadets that had his heart set out on wiping out the Titans to make humanity win again. He was one of those people that humanity needed. Eren Jaeger was like her. He was like the Margaux Squad. He wanted to kill all the Titans and explore the world that belonged to humans at one point. He had a determination only a select few had.

"Jaeger Jaeger Jaeger..." she mumbled under her breath, looking up at the big blue sky, "Wake the fuck up boy... You have some major explaining to do to your Captain." She couldn't help but to chuckle as she stood up again, feeling the presence of Rico and Mitabi now gone. She slowly heard Ian and Mikasa exchanging some small words.

"After all, you'll be protecting your boyfriend," Ian added making Scarlett snicker, and Mikasa blush.

"He's family..." Mikasa replied but Ian didn't hear that part as he left to go help Mitabi with the Titans around.

"Sure Mikasa, sure," Scarlett pat the black haired females head then grinned, "Let's snap some sense into Eren alright?"

"Captain... thank you..." Mikasa looked at Scarlett dead in the eyes, catching the female Captain off guard.

"For what...? I haven't done anything yet for you to thank me," Scar held her blades, eyeing them carefully, then smiled at the latter, "You can thank me and my Squad for whatever reason you're thinking of as soon as this operation is a success. Got it?"

"Y-Yes!" Mikasa nodded and looked at Eren again, mouth slightly agape, "He... he's not regenerating."

"Maybe he overdid himself... Only time will tell. Now go kill some Titan ass Ackerman. I'll stick around him in case he comes to," Scarlett ordered zipping down near Eren's feet while Mikasa zipped away after nodding in reply.

All the red haired female heard was the slashing of napes nearby, and soldiers yelling at each other to make more sense of the situation. Her job was to protect Eren, so she would stick by him. Besides, with Mikasa helping the Elite troops, she knew there would be no trouble. She heard a crash of a building and saw a now dead Titan on a roof, with Mikasa standing on top.

"Captain! Mikasa!" Armin yelled from on top of Eren's nape. _Whoa what the hell? When did he get there?! Did I space out or did my body just not sense him as threatening to Eren?_ Scarlett thought to herself looking up at the blond. "What happened to Eren?!"

"It's too dangerous right now Armin! Eren can't control that Titan! It didn't react when I spoke to it. It doesn't matter who tries... it's pointless!" Mikasa yelled down.

"B-But the mission?"

"It's a failure right now. Everyone is fighting right now because they decided to not leave Eren behind," Scarlett spoke.

"B-But at this rate, we'll be wiped out with all these Titans coming in!" Mikasa added.

"Ha!" A voice boomed over, landing beside Scarlett, "Speak for yourself Ackerman. We're doing quite fine ourselves."

"Where's the others?" Scarlett asked.

"Arnoldo and Ken are near the hole. They're killing as many as they can, but they just keep coming."

"Mirja?"

"She ran into Rico and she started helping her and her squad. Any luck with Jaeger?"

"Not yet but now that Armin is here... We might," Scarlett nodded looking up at the blond, waiting for another idea.

"Armin what are you doing?! You'll get hurt!" Mikasa yelled seeing Armin take out his blades.

"I'll get him out of there! Mikasa you keep the Titans away!" Armin basically ordered making the tall black haired male on the ground laugh, "Eren came out from the Titan's weak spot. It could have something to do with the true nature of Titans. It'll be ok... as long as I avoid the middle. He won't die... but it'll hurt... a little!" Right after, the male stuck a blade into Eren.

"Armin!" Mikasa yelled, but was overpowered as soon as Eren roared loudly, flailing around almost kicking Scarlett and Wolfram, but Wolfram had jumped back, pulling Scarlett along by her wrist, just in time avoiding the hit.

"Damn that was a close one," Wolfram whistled, "Arlert be careful!"

"Mikasa go save as many leaves as you can! Leave Eren to me and go!" The female reluctantly left, "Captain! You guys too! I promise I'll get Eren out of this... trance... Go save some lives!"

Scarlett had a small look of shock on her face but smiled nonetheless at the small order the blond gave them, "Well if you say so. Don't hurt yourself Armin!" She waved then looked at Wolfram, "Let's go."

"Right behind you," Wolfram grinned, and followed the female who quickly zipped away.

About twenty meters from where Eren was, there was three Titans trying to eat two soldiers.

"Best out of three wins!" Scarlett snarled but a grin on her face.

"You're on Captain!" Wolfram laughed, launching forward quickly, running on a roof, then jumped, attached his wires to one Titan that held a soldier in his hand. "Wrong move shit-face!" He jumped up, and swiftly cut deep into the male, the soldier now free from the Titans grasp as it fell to the floor.

"One more to go~" Scarlett sang, standing on top of the head of a now dead Titan. Immediately the two squad members, looked at each other with fierce eyes, as both attached their wires to each shoulder. Jumping up and then zipping down, blades cutting deep into the Titan, they were showered with the hot morbid liquid. The Titan now fell down to the floor, his decapitated head a few meters away.

"Huh, a tie yet again," Wolfram chuckled, "Are you two alright?!"

The two Garrison soldiers stared at the two Margaux members in all. They had taken care of those Titans like it was nothing, and even joked around while doing it. Was this the true power of the oh so infamous Undercover Operations Squad?

"Snap out of it soldiers! There's still more Titans lurking around! Don't give up yet!" Scarlett gave a thumbs up, "Good luck!" And with that, the two squad members disappeared off to kill more Titans elsewhere.

Finally, time started going faster as the two were finally feeling free again. Sure they were outside of the walls, but they were filled with such adrenaline they just couldn't help themselves.

"Scarlett!" Arndolo's yell caught the attention of his captain and fellow squad mate, "Look."

Scarlett and Wolfram landed on the same roof where Arnoldo and Ken were at. Fixating their eyes where Arnoldo referred, their eyes went wide.

"Armin did it..." Scarlett whispered, seeing Eren carrying the boulder, slowly walking towards the gate.

"Guys!!!!!" Mirja yelled out excitedly, "Eren's doing it! The plan is working!"

"The people that died today won't be in vain..." Ken added, Arnoldo nodding in agreement.

Not long after they saw Squad Matabi and Ian on the flat ground near the gate, attracting the attention of the Titans near Eren. Then they spotted Mikasa and Armin doing the same thing.

"Oh we're using our legs now?" Scarlett smirked, "Just our forte. This operation is almost as good as done. Protect Eren at all costs! Scatter!" Immediately the five jumped off the room, and ran in different directions, eliminating any Titan that got in their way.

Scarlett ran quickly past soldiers, running towards Eren.

"There's one more left!" She heard Armin yell out.

"I got it!" Mikasa and Scarlett yelled at the same time, making them look at each with a small smile, but kept running towards.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Rico yelled and dove in and dug a blade deep into one of the Titans eyes.

"Get him Ackerman!" The red haired Captain encouraged, making the latter nod in response. Soon enough, after a loud battle cry and the sound of yet another Titan falling to the ground, Mikasa had killed the damn thing.

"Go Eren!!!!" Armin yelled, Eren immediately roaring louder than ever before as he pushed the boulder down into the hole, finally sealing the broken gate.

**Green flare.**

"Fuck yeah!" Wolfram yelled out pumping a fist in the air, making Arnoldo roll his eyes.

"More Titans approaching! Head up the wall now!" Rico yelled.

"I’m not leaving Eren until he's out of there!" Mikasa yelled back, running to Eren immediately.

"This girl I swear..." Scarlett chuckled, but ran ahead the female nonetheless.

"He has a unbelievable high fever!" Armin yelled, "He needs medical attention quick but... I can't get him out!"

"We'll cut him out then," Rico yelled doing exactly as she said, Armin and Eren falling to the ground.

"Eren! Armin!" Mikasa yelled, "C-Captain! More Titans approaching!"

As if on cue, two Titans loomed over them casting a shadow over them. Before Scarlett even got the chance, she heard sounds of gas and wires being shot out. Then she saw him. She recognized that move anymore. Only a few people could do it. Two were in her squad, herself and Ken... and another was her number one 'frenemy', Levi Ackerman. The two Titans never had a chance as they fell to the ground.

He stood on top of one of the dead Titans, his back turned to them until he finally looked back, his regular stoic look on his face, "Oi you brats. What the hell happened here?"

"Levi?!" Scarlett yelled, shooting her wires out and landing beside the male captain, "It's nice to see your grumpy face again! I actually missed it!"

He recognized that red hair immediately, "What the fuck... you're here too? Where the fuck were you?! I expected you to see you and your squad on our expedition to only find out from Erwin you wouldn't be there. What was so important you had to do that you weren't there?" Levi growled, though he wasn't angry, more like annoyed.

"Aww did you miss me?" Scarlett teased.

"As if," He scoffed, "What the hell is going on?"

"It's a long story... trust me," Scarlett wrapped an arm around Levi's shoulders and grinned, "Oh my god it's nice to finally see such a familiar face again. You have no idea."

"What got into you?" Levi tried escaping her arm, but failed as she stood in front of him, her hands on his shoulders.

"Ok I'll be honest," Scarlett rolled her eyes, "I missed you!" She grinned and hugged the male close, causing a light blush to appear on his face, "Oh also we were gone because we had an undercover mission to do. I thought Erwin would let you know? Oh well," she shrugged then realization hit her, "ERWIN! WHERE'S ERWIN?!"

"They're all making their way up the wall," Levi fixed his cloak as she finally let go of him, "We were already on our way back since we heard Trost was under attack, but when we were about to go through the gate, that boulder blocked it."

"Ah... I see," Scarlett shrugged, "Shit! We can catch up later and shit. Arnoldo, Ken!"

"Yes?" Ken was at her side by the time she finished yelling his name. 

"Both of you quickly take Eren to get medical help! Now!"

"Understood," Arnoldo replied as he took Eren in his arms, and zipped away, followed by Ken.

"He'll be fine Mikasa," Mirja smiled patting the females back, "Have faith in him. You too Armin."

"O-Of course..." Armin nodded.

Scarlett finally took a deep breath, as she stretched her arms above her then stopped and stared at the sky. Humanity finally had a win against these damn creatures. Many lives were lost, but at least they finally completed something that had never been done before. They finally won one round.

 

* * *

 

_...Three days later..._

"ERWIN!!!!!" Scarlett yelled, jumping off the horse, and immediately ran towards the blond Commander who was waiting for the Margaux Squad's return. Usually others joined the Commander, but everyone was doing something so he had no problem welcoming them back alone.

"Brace yourself Erwin!" Wolfram laughed, ways behind Scarlett since she ran off, the rest of the squad near Wolfram.

A loud thud was heard as Scarlett practically tackled her target to the ground.

A small chuckle left his throat, as he sat up, wrapping his arms around the red haired captain, "It's nice to finally see you again Lettie."

"I know we all ran into each other during the clean up of Trost, but we promised Pyxis we'd help him settle some things so we couldn't come back until we finished with him. I missed you!" Scarlett whined, wrapping her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face in his chest.

"He even appreciated our help so much he gave us some of his best horses. What a beauty they are hm?" Arnoldo asked, stroking his new horse's mane. "I'm sure Pyxis and everyone else kept you up to date with everything that happened?"

"You are correct," Erwin nodded getting up, holding Scarlett still, "Levi and I are actually going to pay this cadet a visit in two days. Would you guys like to come along?"

"I can't. I told Rico I would go by tomorrow and the next to help her with something," Arnoldo sighed.

"Nah I'm good. I'm sure we'll see him again real soon," Wolfram ran added.

Ken only shook his head.

"I would but I am beat!" Mirja yawned, "Sorry Erwin! None of us have had any proper sleep since our Undercover mission started so... I'm catching up on my sleep!" And with that, the blond female ran towards the building that held her room, disappearing from their sight.

Scarlett rolled her eyes but smiled as the rest of her squad went their separate ways to do their own thing, "I'll go. I'm sure you and Levi would frighten the poor boy if not one familiar face is there. Where's everyone else?" She finally let go of him and stood in front of him, hands on her hips.

"Levi and his squad I believe are having a quick training session. Then I sent Mike to check up on Hanji," Erwin sighed a bit, "Just to make sure she's not going crazy over the Titans we caught on her recent expedition."

"Right... Mirja was telling us about that," she tapped her fingers on her chin, "I assume you have paperwork to do, so I'll leave you alone until later." She grinned, "Don't work too hard Erwin~!"

"You as well Lettie," the Commander chuckled as we walked towards his office and she ran to the training fields.

She immediately saw Levi and his squad training in what seemed to be with the blades.

"Scarlett! You're back!" Petra exclaimed smiling brightly, putting her blades down and ran over to hug the female Captain.

"Why yes I am~," Scarlett grinned hugging the female back, "My squad says hello and that they expect to go one on one again with you all in a few days to catch up again."

"Tch, so you guys can lose?" Oruo mocked.

"Yeah keep dreaming bud," Scarlett laughed and then made her way over to males and extended her arms, "You're all getting hugs! I've missed you all! I've even missed Hanji messing with my hair!"

"That Undercover assignment you were doing must have been tiring huh?" Eld chuckled as he gently hugged the female captain.

"You have no idea, but we finished it nonetheless."

"Like we would expect anything less," Gunther added as he bear hugged Scarlett, making her laugh.

"You too you big idiot! You get a hug too!" Scarlett grinned and hugged the last male, Oruo, who winced almost expecting the hug to be hard, but she hugged him warmly then separated with a grin on her face.

"What about Captain?" Petra teased raising an eyebrow.

"He got his hug when I saw him in Trost, but if he wants another one he sure can get another~" Scarlett sang.

"I think not. We're in the middle of training here. Do you mind?" Levi scowled.

"Touchy touchy..." She sighed but smiled, "Do you mind if I just linger around and watch?"

"As long as you're not in the way brat," Levi scoffed.

Scarlett immediately stuck her tongue out at him, "I won't. I'll just go sit over there." She walked to a tree, and sat down, her back leaning against the hard bark of the tree. Soon after Squad Levi continued their training, as Scarlett only watched.

She watched silently as Levi gave stern but soft orders on what to do. She bent one leg slightly, getting in a small comfortable position. Time ticked by, and before she even knew it, she had fallen asleep. She had been watching them for almost half an hour now. Truth be told, Mirja wasn't lying when she said they hadn't had any time to sleep. Her squad had been busy with little assignments since the sealing of the wall, and she herself never got the chance to lay down and sleep. She sure hoped her Squad at least slept for a while here and there since she herself never had a chance to even get a wink of sleep. Her head was slightly drooped forward, some loose strands of red curls dangling with the breeze.

"Captain," Petra spoke and pointed to the tree where Scarlett was.

"That brat I swear..." Levi scowled, "We're done for the day. Go get some rest."

"Sir!" The four others nodded and left.

Levi only walked to Scarlett and nudged her side with his foot, "Brat wake up. You can't be sleeping out here like this." No response. He should have expected that. He grunted a bit in annoyance and scooped her up into his arms. He was getting to used to this, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He ignored his thoughts as he started to walk to her bedroom. Once finally there, he laid her on her bed, and looked around. He could see dust. His face scrunched up in disgust but also knew she wasn't even here for the last few days. 

"What a brat..." He headed towards the door, but stopped when he heard an unfamiliar noise. 

 _Was that snoring?_ He asked himself, and she was in fact lightly snoring in her sleep. That was a first. She always fell asleep before him during your late night chats and she had never once snored. _You must be exhausted..._ he thought again.

Ever since he came back into Trost a few days ago, he had seen her working hard, for the Garrison surprisingly. Now she was finally 'home' and her body couldn't take it anymore. It had finally given in to the aching limbs and tired brain.

Scarlett snored quietly again, as she cuddled into a spare pillow and the wall.

"Tch... what a brat..." Levi scoffed but nonetheless a small smile was on his face, "Rest well Margaux."

And with that he left, letting the female Captain get some long deserved rest.

* * *

>  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very long overdue chapter. It’s currently 4:34 am, but I owed you guys this. It’s a pretty basic chapter and I apologize for that ;w; I hope you enjoy!


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